Man City outclassed in 2-0 loss at Stoke in Premier League

On the left are all the touches by Stoke’s Marko Arnautovic. But if you saw him in Germany, the number of goals he was involved in, it was obvious he had quality.

The few chances they did create were met by the impressive Jack Butland, as the Stoke keeper kept out efforts from Kevin de Bruyne and Aleksandar Kolarov with sharp saves.

Manchester City didn’t learn from this either and were again watching Shaqiri’s magic tear them apart in the 15th minute, his ideal through ball picking out his Austrian teammate for his second goal of the day. Arnautovic hit the post when put clean through for his hat trick. Their latest episode in the league came in a 2-0 defeat to Sunderland last weekend, however Hughes and co will be aiming to build on the momentum gained midweek in their 2-0 win Sheffield Wednesday in the cup. Wilfried Bony has not stepped up at all this season, prompting City to hunt for a striker in January.

“A warning to Stoke: if you carry on like this you might not be last on MOTD tonight”.

Online bookmakers NetBet have Man City favourites to win in the west Midlands on Saturday lunchtime.

“Vincent Kompany is a massively important part of our squad but we have a good squad here”, said Hart, as quoted by BBC Sport. The team finished with 10 men after Fernando pulled up with an apparent hamstring injury and all substitutions already used. “Over the complete game we didn’t have the energy to compete in the same way as Stoke”.

City are used to opponents sitting back and inviting them to break them down.

Despite the return of creative midfielder David Silva to City’s line-up, the home side worked tirelessly to shut down the space and nullify the visitors’ threat.

First leg games will be played in the week starting from 4th January, and second leg ties will take place, three weeks later, in the week starting from 25th January. “Glenn (Whelan) has that calming influence, he tells everyone where to go and understands that role completely”.

The changes made scant difference.

“We play very bad because we are playing with the same players, and nothing much more happens”.

“We played with an energetic three in midfield, we were on the front foot in midfield and we unsettled them”.

“I’ve been close to doing it but today it worked ideal for us”.

“We had pace and creativity”.

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini: “We had a lack of reaction, too many games for the same players”.

“We are playing in other competitions with the same 13 or 14 players”, he noted.

“Today our legs weren’t there”.

Looked like a Sunday League defender trying to keep up with the pace and trickery of Stoke’s attackers.

“We always fancy our chances against anyone and we’ve proved over the years that there is no fear at the Britannia”, Walters said, according to PremierLeague.com.