Not a match that will live long in the memory
Short of lining up carrying buckets and spades while kitted out in sombreros and Speedos, it’s difficult to know how most of Stoke’s players could have had their minds on the beach. Manchester City’s players barely broke sweat as they became the third team in a row to put four past the Potters in a series of games they’ve lost 12-1 on aggregate. They won’t be too concerned - even if they don’t win another point they look like a top 10 finish is assured. The good news for relegation-threatened Sunderland is that they’ve got Stoke next.
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Full time at the Etihad: Manchester City 4-0 Stoke
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeep! It’s all over, with Manchester City winning at a canter despite leaving many of their big names on the bench. Man City go a point ahead of Arsenal in third place after goals from Fernando, Sergio Aguero and a Kelechi Iheanacho brace won them the three points.
90+1 min: Kelechi Iheanacho is announced as the man of the match and it’s difficult to argue with his selection. Truth be told, Manchester City have strolled to victory here. Manchester City’s players couldn’t have asked for a nicer limber-up ahead of their match against Real Madrid on Tuesday.
90 min: Fourth official Mike Dean condemns us to another four minutes of purgatory. Stoke have been very poor today, with the exception of one 10-minute spell which ended with ... a Manchester City goal. They’ve shipped four goals in each of their past three games, which is dreadful.
88 min: Toure stretches for a ball and immediately goes to ground again, rubbing the inside off his right thigh. This is bonkers. Play resumes with him still on the field.
87 min: With his team 4-0 up and a date with Real Madrid imminent, Toure walks back on to the pitch, despite clearly suffering from an injury. Who exactly is he trying to impress here?
86 min: Yaya Toure limps to the sideline accompanied by two medical staff, where he stretches his right leg and consults with Manuel Pellegrini. It seems Toure wants to continue, but Pellegrini isn’t so keen. Play resumes as the pair chat on the edge of Pellegrini’s technical area.
84 min: Yaya appears to have picked up some sort of groin strain, which is causing him to limp. He’s currently receiving treatment for what looks like an injury to his right thigh or the right side of his groin. City, you’ll remember, have used all three of their substitutes but I suspect they’ll take Toure off anyway.
81 min: The players on both sides continue to plod through the motions,. fulfilling the pesky contractual obligations that dictate they have to play until the final whistle, even though the game ended as a contest shortly after the hour. Stoke have a corner, which is played deep into the Manchester City penalty area and headed clear by Yaya Toure.
77 min: Another Manchester City substitution from some minutes ago: Martin Demichelis on for Fernando. For Stoke, Charlie Adam has replaced the always lively Arnautovic, who appears to have groin issues.
76 min: That was a splendid goal from Iheanacho, who looks a real prospect. Bony picked up the ball on the edge of the final third and rolled a perfectly weighted pass between Stoke’s centre-backs for Iheanacho to latch on to. The teenager duly did so, before rounding the on-rushing goalkeeper and slotting the ball into the empty net.
GOAL! Manchester City 4-0 Stoke City (Iheanacho 75)
74 min: The 19-year-old bags his second of the game, rounding the goalkeeper to slot home after being played through on goal by an excellent pass from Wilfried Bony.
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71 min: It’s a shame for Stoke in particular and the world’s population in general that Stoke conceded that goal during what had been their most impressive spell of the game. So many Saturday afternoon’s ruined for neutrals who stayed at home to watch this match rather than doing something more productive with their leisure time.
68 min: Manchester City substitution from a few minutes ago - as soon as Iheanacho put the game beyond Stoke, Manuel Pellegrini replaced Sergio Aguero with Wilfried Bony.
67 min: Yaya Toure has a penalty shout turned down after being blocked by Marko Arnautovic in the Stoke City penalty area. I’ve seen penalties given for a lot less.
65 min: That was brilliantly set up by Pablo Zabaleta, who is making his 300th appearance for Manchester City today. He got ahead of Philipp Wollscheid, ran to the byeline and pulled the ball back to Iheanacho, who was completely unmarked standing about seven yards from goal and couldn’t really miss.
GOAL! Manchester City 3-0 Stoke City (Iheanacho 64)
64 min: Kelechi Iheanacho sidefoots into an empty net from about six yards out after being set up by Pablo Zabaleta. It’s his 10th of the season and he’ll never score an easier one.
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62 min: More good play from Arnautovic, who’s been a menace throughout. On this occasion he picks up the ball on the inside left channel, ghosts forward past two challenges before running into a defender and losing the ball.
60 min: More dreadful defending from Manchester City, as Marko Arnautovic is given the freedom of the left wing to get in behind Pablo Zabaleta and unleash a venomous shot that brings a good save out of Joe Hart.
59 min: Good play from Jesus Navas, who pulls the ball back across a crowded Stoke City penalty area to tee up Yaya Toure. His low drive isn’t up to much and Haugaard saves comfortably.
56 min: Manchester City substitution: David Silva gets the hook and is replaced by Fabian Delph.
53 min: Mame Biram Diouf goes close with a near-post header from a corner. Unmarked, he sent his downwards header flashing about a foot wide of the upright. Poor defending from Manchester City, who appear to have zoned out and look in danger of letting Stoke back into this game.
51 min: Haugaard is called into action for the first time when he’s forced to punch a Kelechi Iheanacho shot from distance over the cross-bar. A corner for Manchester City, from which nothing comes.
49 min: Good play from Arnautovic, who gives Zabaleta the slip as he gallops down the left flank and plays the ball across the face of goal. It’s perfect for Joselu, who slides in to convert and ... sends the ball over the bar. That was a wonderful opportunity for Stoke to pull one back.
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47 min: Stoke City win a free-kick in a good position outside the Manchester City penalty area, for a Yaya Toure challenge on Phil Bardsley. Marko Arnautovic and Bardsley stand over the ball, which is about eight yards outside the Manchester City penalty area, dead centre. Bardsley takes the shot, but drags a feeble effort wide.
Second-half: Manchester City 2-0 Stoke City
45 min: Stoke get the ball rolling for the second half. There’s been one change, but not the one we’d been expecting. Shay Given has been taken off with a groin injury and has been replaced by Jakob Haugaard in the Stoke goal. Haughaard is a 22-year-old from Sundby in Denmark, in case you’re wondering.
More on that Mamadou Sakho drugs test story
Half-time at the Etihad: Manchester City 2-0 Stoke City
The players troop off for their half-time brew with Manchester City leading 2-0. Fernando opened the scoring with a near post header from a corner, before Sergio Aguero doubled their lead from the penalty spot after Ryan Shawcross had used his arm to drag Kelechi Iheanacho to the ground as the striker dashed past him in the penalty area. It’s been easy for Manchester City in a match that’s been extremely low on anything approaching thrills.
45 min: THe fourth official suggests two minutes of added time at the end of the first half. There isn’t a hope in hell of Stoke City turning this around if they continue to play as they have - Manchester City have ambled into a 2-0 lead without really coming out of first gear. It will be interesting to see if Manuel Pellegrini takes Ageuro off at the interval, to wrap him in cotton wool ahead of Tuesday’s game against Real Madrid.
GOAL! Manchester City 2-0 Stoke City (Aguero 43pen)
Sergio Aguero makes no mistake as he puts the ball high to Shay Given’s left. That’s a great spot-kick - there was no saving that.
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Penalty for Manchester City!
Kelechi Iheanacho is dragged to the ground by Ryan Shawcross, who has no complaints when Bobby Madley blows his whistle and points to the spot. The Manchester City striker was too quick for him there.
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41 min: Breaking news: Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho has failed a drugs test.
38 min: “Why don’t you just go and watch re-runs of Man Utd games?” asks Mark O, who seems to think the job of a minute-by-minute commentator is to act as a Premier League cheerleader. “Ten mins into this one and you are criticising the quality of the game.”
36 min: They’ve defended fairly stoutly throughout, but that was sloppy from Stoke. Fernando was completely unmarked as he stole through the Stoke City penalty area to skim a near post header past Shay Given.
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GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Stoke City (Fernando 35)
From the corner, Fernando heads Manchester City into the lead with a near post flick.
33 min: Assorted Manchester City players ping the ball around the edge of the Stoke City penalty area, with 10 players between them and the goal. Navas eventually gets a cross in, which Phil Bardsley puts out for a corner.
32 min: Imbula tries a shot from about 35 yards, but it’s a dreadful effort that bounces on its way well wide of the left upright.
29 min: More good play from Stoke, who go close to opening the scoring. From about six yards out, Joselu cranes his neck to try and convert a cross from the left, but his leap is slightly mistimed and he is unable to get enough purchase on the ball to nod it goalwards.
28 min: Stoke get the ball forward towards Arnautovic, who holds the ball up in the corner as he waits for the cavalry to arrive. It duly appears in the form of Giannelli Imbula, who is picked out by his team-mate on the edge of the penalty area. The resulting shot sails over the bar.
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25 min: Marko Arnautovic attempts to set up a counter-attack following a period of sustained pressure from Manchester City. His early ball forward towards Joselu is cut out and it’s as you were. Stoke’s plan to defend deep and in numbers in a bid to frustrate their hosts is to be applauded, but it doesn’t make for particularly pretty or entertaining viewing.
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23 min: Manchester City win a corner, which is played deep into the penalty area. Toure attempts to head the ball goalwards, but it’s too high for him.
23 min: After good work on the edge of the penalty area, Iheanacho picks out Yaya Toure, who tees up Aleksander Kolarov for a shot. His effort takes a deflection off Glenn Whelan.
21 min: Marc Muniesa over-hits a curling cross from the left flank that briefly looks like it may drop behind Joe Hart and into the Manchester City goal. With the goalkeeper back-pedalling furiously, the ball bounces a yard or two wide of the far post.
19 min: Mame Biram Diouf tracks an Aguero run down the inside left and dispossesses the Argentinian as he picks up a pass from Aleksandar Kolarov.
18 min: Free-kick for Manchester City, wide on the right, adjacent to the Stoke City penalty area. Jesus Navas floats the ball across the face of the Stoke six-yard box, where Nicolas Otamendi gets a weak touch that fails to trouble Shay Given.
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17 min: From their third set piece in quick succession, Stoke City get the ball into the penalty area, where Yaya Toure’s poor clearance drops kindly for Ryan Shawcross. His wild swing at the ball results in it being skewed horribly wide.
15 min: Ooh! Whelan strikes for goal from an unlikely position, taking Hart by surprise and forcing the Manchester City goalkeeper to put the ball out for a corner. It’s delivered to the near post and Stoke win another corner.
14 min: Stoke City win a free-kick wide on the right and Glenn Whelan prepares to curl the ball into a crowded Manchester City penalty area.
12 min: Geoff Cameron carelessly gives away possession to David Silva just inside the Stoke City half. The midfielder plays the ball down the inside right channel for Iheanacho, but he’s muscled off the ball and stoke clear their lines.
10 min: A game that’s showing signs of being anything but a classic thus far, being played in front of crowd that seems fairly subdued. Manchester City have had 70% of the possession, but done little with it.
8 min: Kolarov and David Silva link up well as City go rampaging through the centre. Aguero’s picked out on the edge of the penalty area, once again he tries to pick out Iheanacho, but the ball breaks in the direction of Shay Given, who clears under pressure from Jesus Navas. The Stoke goalkeeper wins a free-kick when Navas barges into him.
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6 min: Sergio Aguero picks up a pass out by the touchline, turns his two markers with a delightful bit of skill, cuts inside and picks out Iheanacho on the edge of the penalty area. The young striker shoots narrowly wide of the left upright with his attempt to place the ball in the bottom corner.
4 min: A rather slow and uneventful start to the game, as Mame Biram Diouf shoulder charges Aleksandar Kolarov off the pitch near his own goal as the defender attempted to shepherd the ball out of play. Kolorav does not look best pleased, but Diouf was well within his rights to challenge him and no free-kick is forthcoming.
2 min: I was led to believe Andre Marriner was refereeing this game, but the man in the middle looks suspiciously like Bobby Madley, who refereed Wednesday night’s MErseyside derby. I’m not sure what happened there ...
1 min: Manchester City’s players get the ball rolling on another a big weekend for football. They’re lining up in a 4-4-2, with Kelechi Iheanacho partnering Sergio Aguero up front.
Not long now ...
The teams are out on the pitch, with Manchester City’s players togged out in their usual sky blue shirts, white shorts and sky blue socks. Stoke’s players also wear their customary red and white striped shirts, white shorts and white socks.
Interesting fact ...
Having turned 40 on Wednesday, Shay Given becomes the first player aged over 40 since Stanley Matthews lined out for them at the age of ... 49.
Some good news for Stoke City fans ...
Kevin De Bruyne and Vincent Kompany are being rested by Manchester City today, ahead of City’s Champions League semi-final first leg on Tuesday night.
Some bad news for Stoke City fans
The Potters’ Dutch midfielder Ibrahim Afellay injured his knee in training yesterday and reports from the Etihad suggest he has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and may well be out until Christmas. We wish him a speedy recovery.
Manchester City v Stoke City line-ups ...
Manchester City: Hart, Zabaleta, Otamendi, Mangala, Kolarov, Jesus Navas, Fernando, Toure, Silva, Iheanacho, Aguero.
Subs: Sterling, Caballero, Bony, De Bruyne, Delph, Clichy, Demichelis.
Stoke City: Given, Wollscheid, Shawcross, Muniesa, Cameron, Whelan, Imbula, Bardsley, Diouf, Joselu, Arnautovic.
Subs: Adam, Teixeira, Crouch, Krkic, Haugaard, El Ouriachi, Shenton.
Referee: Andre Marriner (West Midlands)
The Premier League weekend starts here ...
Having been leapfrogged by Arsenal on Thursday night, Manchester City take on Stoke City knowing that anything less than victory will leave them in fourth place. David Silva is back in contention for City, having missed their past two games and will almost certainly get a run-out with the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid looming on Tuesday. Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna are also fit after recovering from back-knack.
Stoke City travel to the Etihad on the back of consecutive defeats against Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, in which they’ve conceded eight goals and scored just one. If they are to reverse this thoroughly inconsequential end-of-season decline, they must do so without Xherdan Shaqiri, who is sidelined with a hamstring injury. Defender Erik Pieters will also be absent as he sits out the second game of a two-match spell on the Naughty Step. Kick-off is at 12.45pm BST, but we’ll be here with team news long before that.
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