Manchester City cruised past Stoke City to climb to third position in the league with a 4-0 win at the Etihad last night.
Fernando opened the scoring midway through the first-half after a fantastic effort from a Jesus Navas corner. Ryan Shawcross then brought down Kalechi Iheanacho in the box and the Citizens were awarded a penalty, which Sergio Aguero dispatched with ease to score his 23rd league goal of the season.
The Sky Blues continued to dominate proceedings in the second-half and although Stoke had a few good chances, they failed to capitalise on any momentum. Iheanacho got on the scoresheet himself when some good work by Pablo Zabaleta presented the young Nigerian an easy tap-in to make it 3-0 for the hosts. Manuel Pellegrini rested some of his players with the crunch Champions League tie against Real Madrid in mind, but that did not stop his side from pressing for more goals. As Stoke moved forward in search of a consolation themselves, City broke well on the counter and Iheanacho snatched his second of the game to make it 4-0 on the night.
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Manchester City
Joe Hart – 7: Had to bail out his defence on a few occasions and the England shot-stopper was up to the task. A good outing to kept his 15th clean sheet this season in the league.
Pablo Zabaleta – 7: Kept on his toes by Marko Arnautovic whenever Stoke came forward, but did well keep the Austrian under control. Got forward well and even grabbed an assist for Iheanacho’s first goal.
Nicolas Otamendi – 5: Returned to the starting XI after missing the draw against Newcastle and was shaky on more than a few occasions. Did well overall and will be glad to register another clean sheet.
Eliaquim Mangala – 5: Like Otamendi, the Frenchman struggled on occasions but was not troubled too much by Joselu.
Aleksandar Kolarov –6: Endured an intense physical battle with Mame Diouf throughout the 90, with the Serbian international doing well to get the better his opponent. Bombed down the left-flank whenever presented with the chance to go forward.
Yaya Toure –5: The deep lying position does not seem to suit the big Ivorian who was a bit slow and sluggish at times. Was hobbling around for the final few minutes of the game and Pellegrini will be hoping he has not picked up a serious injury.
Fernando –7: The Brazilian continues to put in good performances for his side as the season nears its end. Held the midfield brilliantly, cutting out quite a few key passes. Giannelli Imbula created some issues, but he did his job and also managed to open the scoring with a fine header.
Jesus Navas –6.5: The Spaniard might not score a lot of goals but his hard-work, pace and skill allows him to cause problems for the opposition down the right-hand side and is why he is picked by Pellegrini week-in and week-out. Grabbed an assist while also giving Marc Muniesa a torrid time.
David Silva – 6: The Spaniard has recently returned from injury and understandably looked a bit out of place. Was replaced by Fabian Delph early in the second-half.
Kalechi Iheanacho – 8: The City youngster continues to impress whenever given the chance and his brace against Stoke took him to 11 goals for the season in all competitions. Besides the goals, Iheanacho was City’s best player on the day, popping up in all positions behind the striker and causing problems for the visiting defence.
Sergio Aguero – 7: The Argentine has now scored seven in his last five league outings as he continues his rich run of form in the final-half of the season. Dispatched the penalty with ease to double his side’s lead. Taken off in just after the hour mark and replaced by Wlfried Bony as Pellegrini will want him fit and firing against Real Madrid in midweek.
Substitutes
Fabian Delph – 6.5: Replaced Silva early in the second-half and did his job well for the remainder of the game.
Wilfried Bony – 5: Played Iheanacho through for City’s fourth, but did little apart from that.
Martin Demichelis – 4: Came on for the final 20 minutes for Fernando to help City keep their clean sheet.
Stoke City
Shay Given – 6: The Irish goalkeeper did well in the first-half to keep the score down to 2-0 but did not return after the restart due to a suspected groin injury.
Phil Bardsley– 5: Had a tough time dealing with Iheanacho and Kolarov and was often caught out by the fullback’s overlapping runs.
Ryan Shawcross– 4: Made a lazy challenge on Iheanacho to give away the penalty. Was nowhere near as commanding in defence as he is usually capable of.
Phillipp Wollscheid – 5: Did a much better job at defending than Shawcross, but did lose his concentration a few times as well.
Marc Muniesa – 5: Tried to move up the pitch whenever he could, but the Spaniard proved that he is better suited as a centre-back, lacking the quality to deliver from the flanks. Struggled against Navas.
Geoff Cameron – 5: A relatively quiet game for the American as he rarely got involved in the play. Sat back for most of the game, allowing Imbula to venture forward and was responsible for weak marking during Fernando’s goal.
Glenn Whelan – 6: The Irish international often seemed lost in the midfield as he barley enjoyed any time on the ball.
Giannelli Imbula 6.5 –: The 23-year-old was Stoke’s best player on the day, causing a few of problems for the City defence. Looks worth the 18 million pounds that Stoke paid for him.
Marko Arnautovic–6: The Austrian was maybe a little too eager at times. He did get the better of Zabaleta more than once, yet was disappointing with his end product.
Mame Biram Diouf – 6: Battled hard with Kolarov throughout the 90 but did little to help his side get into the game.
Joselu –5: The former Real Madrid man did not do much to test a fragile City defence and never really got into good scoring positions, apart from the one header that he botched.
Substitutes
Jakob Haugaard – 5: Replaced Given for the second-half and the Dane was called into action straight away. He did well considering the circumstances, but could do nothing to prevent City scoring two more.
Charlie Adam – 4: Came on in the final 15 minutes for Arnautovic and had little impact on the game.
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