Manchester City reached yet another level of quality as they ripped apart a lowly Stoke side 7-2 at the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola’s men came into the game off the back of an impressive and dominant September, where they thrashed top six rivals Liverpool 5-0 and comprehensively beat champions Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge. A big reason for City dominating sides so much is down to the brilliance of Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva, who play a big part in the attacking machine that Pep Guardiola has created.
City opened the scoring after 17 minutes, with Gabriel Jesus netting his fifth league goal after he raced past Mame Biram Diouf to slot home for 1-0. It was 2-0 just two minutes later, with De Bruyne playing a fantastic bending pass to Leroy Sane, who found Raheem Sterling for an easy tap-in. By the 27th minute, it was 3-0 as David Silva fired home after more good play between Sane and Sterling. Just before half-time, Stoke surprised everyone by getting a goal through a deflected shot from Diouf, which reduced the deficit.
Just after half-time, Stoke grabbed another goal back as Diouf’s header went in off the leg of Kyle Walker, hitting the post and beating Ederson. City reacted brilliantly and put an end to Stoke’s chances of coming back into the game when Jesus hit a close range shot past Jack Butland, after a fantastic delivery from De Bruyne. As the game hit the hour mark, Fernandinho scored the goal of the game after hitting a shot from 25 yards out that flew past Butland. It soon became six when, once again, De Bruyne found Sane to slot home two minutes later. Stoke’s humiliation was completed after 79 minutes when Bernardo Silva scored his first goal for City after Sterling played him through to prod home for 7-2.
This win puts City top of the league by two points after Manchester United failed to get a winning result against Liverpool at Anfield.
Here are our player ratings from the match.
