It may no longer be called the Britannia Stadium but this was one of those days that served as a reminder that the home of Stoke remains an intimidating venue for visiting opponents. The crowd is boisterous, the conditions are gusty and the team in red and white are no mugs. Yet none of that could stop Manchester City from recording a victory that maintains their perfect start under Pep Guardiola and suggests they are indeed intent on making their mark on all fronts this season.
The visitors came through a frantic and full-blooded affair that was a throwback to the days when Tony Pulis was in charge of Stoke and those occasions, like last season, when City found themselves overwhelmed at the ground now known as the bet365 Stadium. But here City played with poise, grit and a level of ruthlessness that enabled them largely to dominate proceedings and make it 11 goals scored in three matches.
Sergio Agüero has six of those having added two goals here to the one he got against Sunderland on the first day of the season and the hat-trick he scored in the 5-0 blitz of Steaua Bucharest in midweek. The opener was a penalty, one of two awarded by the referee, Mike Dean, who was simply enforcing to the letter the directives issued prior to the new campaign for officials to be tougher on grappling inside the area. Ryan Shawcross was penalised for the incident that led to Agüero opening the scoring, with Raheem Sterling the man punished prior to Bojan Krkic converting for Stoke shortly after half-time.
Dean has developed a reputation for trying to make himself the centre of attention yet he made the correct call on both incidents and the only black spot in regards to his performance was his failure to award Stoke a penalty after Aleksandar Kolarov clearly fouled Joe Allen inside the City area shortly before half-time. That could have proved a decisive moment but ultimately the visitors deserved their victory, one decorated by two late close-range goals from the substitute Nolito.
“We suffer five minutes after they score but after that they didn’t create many chances and we had a great performance,” said Guardiola. “It is impossible to come here and for 90 minutes control the game but we created a lot and we saw again amazing team spirit.”
There was a clear resilience running through the visitors’ ranks and perhaps no single moment typified that better than when Jesús Navas charged back into his own area on 58 minutes to prevent Marko Arnautovic from having a shot on goal. A player not renowned for his battling qualities was suddenly transformed into Tony Adams.
And while City may not have performed with the swagger they displayed against Bucharest there was still much to admire in the way the team continued to build from the back, the centre-backs John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi splitting and playing the ball into midfield where David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne used it with intelligence and craft. Sterling, meanwhile, continues to dazzle and watching on from the bench yet again, Joe Hart could only contemplate what he will be missing should the goalkeeper, as expected, leave City before the end of the month.
That is not to say Stoke were overwhelmed and for large parts of the first half they matched City’s high-pressing tactics with their own desire to regain the ball and use it progressively, typified best by Allen, who was making his first start for Stoke since arriving from Liverpool.“We saw the energy and understanding of his game,” said Mark Hughes of the Wales midfielder. “I was pleased he was able to excel.”
Stoke’s battling was undone on 27 minutes when Shawcross was spotted grabbing Otamendi’s arm as the Argentinian looked to connect with De Bruyne’s corner. Agüero sent Shay Given the wrong way from the spot – a form of redemption given the striker missed two penalties in midweek – and scored again nine minutes later after glancing in De Bruyne’s free-kick from an unmarked position inside the six-yard area.
The hosts went from fired-up to frustrated and even more so after Dean failed to spot Kolarov’s man-handling of Allen. Yet they were back in the match on 49 minutes after the referee this time spotted an infringement by a City player - Sterling put his hands on Shawcross as he attacked an Allen corner, and while the contact was minimal it was an infringement.
“We know the directives and last year those penalties would not have been awarded,” said Hughes. “As long as the referees are consistent I haven’t got an issue with that but from experience I doubt that will be the case.”
Guardiola described the penalty decisions as “a little strange” yet ultimately he departed from here a happy man. “It is impossible to say what we can achieve but in the short time together, they [the players] show me how intelligent they are,” he said. “They have a lot of quality.”
