City broke their Britannia Stadium hoodoo with a definitive 4-1 win that marked their first league win at Stoke City since 1999. Sergio Aguero, James Milner and Samir Nasri were all on the scoresheet on a day that will be remembered not just for the result, but for the controversial refereeing decisions against both sides.
With an almost-full squad to pick from, Manuel Pellegrini decided to drop Clichy in favour of Aleksandar Kolarov in defence, as well as replacing Martin Demichelis with Eliaquim Mangala alongside Vincent Kompany. Edin Dzeko was also left out for James Milner.
It looked like Stoke were the more eager in the opening minutes, but City could have drawn the first blood after David Silva played a square ball towards Aguero, who scuffed the shot that went straight to Begovic. The Argentine could probably have left the ball to Fernandinho, who was in a better position running onto the ball from midfield. However, Stoke quickly recovered and looked like they were on course to get a goal when Moses caught Hart off-guard from range, before Crouch’s header from the resulting corner led to a very controversial block from Milner with cries for handball. Crouch was almost on the scoresheet again minutes later, when his shot found its way into the net, but the goal itself was disallowed for offside, to the surprise of many.
In the end, it turned out to be City who would score first, thanks to Sergio Aguero on 33 minutes. He got the ball just inside the Stoke half, and was taken down but got back up to bear down on goal, before slotting a low, brilliant, finish past a slightly unsuspecting Asmir Begovic.
Five minutes later, Crouch finally got his goal as he levelled the score for Stoke. There was a good cross from Arnautovic which found Crouch in space at the back post, and he was able to head home past Hart pretty easily.
It looked like City might be going in at the break leading when Silva’s shot was diverted in by Aguero, but was surprisingly ruled out for offside. The ball was going in legitimately off of the striker, but at the last second, his header bounced off his hand, which was enough grounds for the referee to controversially but correctly rule out the goal.
That meant it was level at the break, but City came out fighting in the second half and it wasn’t long before they were back in front thanks to James Milner on 55 minues. Samir Nasri crossed the ball towards the Englishman from the right, and he was able to get up and head it away from Begovic into the back of the net to put them back on the way for three points.
15 minutes later, the lead was doubled thanks to Aguero again, who scored a penalty after David Silva was brought down in the box. That goal just gave City a bit of a comfort zone at a ground they’ve struggled at recently.
City finally wrapped up the win on 76 minutes thanks to Samir Nasri, who got the ball outside the box and ran with it before firing one past Asmir Begovic from 20 yards or more to make it 4-1, thereby proving City are still in the title race.
There’s still a long way to go if City want to be crowned champions in May, but if we can carry on producing performances like this, Chelsea (who maintained their 7 point lead with a late 1-0 win against Everton) might just have a fight on their hands for the title they’ve looked so likely to win.
