For me, the result was predictable from the start. Although Manuel Pellegrini went with a workman-like side extremely capable of combating Stoke's main strengths, the Britannia blues just won't go away and not many will have predicted a City win.
A tough day for Samir Nasri Photo: Official MCFC Facebook
Unfortunately, it was hard to take positives. The likes of Samir Nasri and Yaya Toure gave typically uninterested performances and levels of creativity were alarmingly low.
Pellegrini’s men continued their rotten record at the Britannia Stadium in a barely watchable bore draw on Saturday afternoon.
Álvaro Negredo, Jack Rodwell, Aleksander Kolarov, James Milner and Stevan Jovetić all made starts in a new look side, but were ultimately useless in a performance many City fans will want to forget.
Joe Hart makes the only real save of the game to deny Stoke taking the lead Photo: Official MCFC Facebook
The Blues started promisingly and enjoyed long spells of possession, however, the Potters had a purpose about their play and looked the more likely team to score. Jonathan Walters squandered a number of chances to put his side in front and Joe Hart was on top form to deny Kenwyne Jones. Jovetić came close with a speculative volley, but goalscoring opportunities were limited.
The last time the Blues beat Stoke City away from home in the First Division was in 1982, with the blues coming out 3-1 winners, explaining that Saturday's trip to the Potteries will be a difficult one as the Blues will be set to have their work cut out. Last season's away record was evidently the reason why bitter rivals Manchester United won the title as City, under previous manager Roberto Mancini, dropped a massive 24 points.
"From Z to A" - Aguero and Zabaleta will be hoping to capitalise on Argentina's World Cup Qualification this week Photo: Official MCFC Facebook
Fast forward to this season, and Manuel Pellegrini’s side looked a bit nervous against two newly promoted sides in Cardiff City and Hull City. However, Pellegrini will be pleased that his new look side still managed to score four goals within the two games, but there will be a number of defensive worries, with the team looking totally different without captain Vincent Kompany.
No. 4: Mark Hughes, Stoke's home "fortress" and new signing Erik Pieters
By Alex Mason
Ahead of this weekend’s clash against Stoke City, we caught up with Potters fan Niall Cope(@copiee), as he talks about Manchester City’s chances of winning the title and how Stoke will fair on Saturday against the Blues.
After Saturday's emphatic 5-0 win at home to Barnsley, here are my top five quarter final performance's from City teams from now and in the past.
5: Manchester City 1 - 0 Stoke City. 3rd March 1934
This game will go down as the game which records the highest attendance at a club ground in England to this day. City comfortably beat the Potters 1-0 in front of 84,569 fans and secured a semi final tie against Aston Villa at Leeds Road.
City beat Villa 6-1 (familiar scoreline, hey?!) and ended up fulfilling club captain Sam Cowan's promise that the Blues would win the trophy after failing at the final hurdle the season before, thanks to goals from Fred Tilson which secured a 2-1 victory for City against Portsmouth.
After grabbing his third goal of the season at the Britannia Stadium yesterday, Pablo Zabaleta once again staked his claim as one of the greatest model professionals in the world at the moment. And this just isn't the opinion of Manchester City fans.
Zabaleta celebrates after grabbing the winner against Stoke
Photo: Christopher Lee/Getty Images Europe
Ian Ladyman, Northern Football Correspondent at the Daily Mail, was quick to praise the Argentinian full back with the following tweet:
"I'm supposed to be neutral but Pablo Zabaleta is a wonderful man and a very valuable footballer."
And Ladyman wasn't the only one. On the ITV FA Cup highlights show last night, both Clarke Carlisle and Gordon Strachan agreed with the sentiments of presenter Matt Smith, who said that every manager would love a team of Zabaleta's.
Speculation regarding the future of Mario Balotelli has been the most newsworthy information coming out of the Etihad Stadium this week, with reports heavily linking him to his boyhood club, AC Milan.
However, with his agent quick to deny any move for the Italian, it seems that Balotelli is set to stay put at City at least until the end of the season.
Along with the rumours that Txiki Begiristain wants Roberto Mancini to move towards the infamous 4-3-3 formation used consistently by Txiki's former club Barcelona, there has been less of a focus on this weekends FA Cup tie at the Britannia Stadium.
The two sides meet in the competition for the first time since Yaya Toure won Manchester City the trophy at Wembley in May 2011, and the Potters will be looking for some revenge to that disappointing day in the capital.
As a summer of outstanding UK sporting
success draws to a close Manchester City will be hoping that it won’t be a case
of Rule Britannia when they travel to face Tony Pulis’ ‘pugilists’ from the
Potteries.
The exciting escapades of Andy Murray,
Bradley Wiggins and Team GB will be the last thing in the minds of Roberto
Mancini’s men as they take on the hostile surroundings of the Britannia
Stadium, and opponents renowned for their ‘fighting characteristics’.
One can but admire the tenacity of the home
support and, with just four junctions of the M6 separating the two cities, it
will be an especially intense affair.
Crouch's stunning volley puts a dent in City's title race
By Aaron Leggott
Manchester City regained their place at the top of the Premier League after salvaging a point at the Britannia Stadium.
After a very poor first half, it took an absolute stunning effort from Peter Crouch to wake up the visitors, who replied with an unforgettable strike of their own as Yaya Toure's 35 yard effort found the net with 15 minutes remaining.
They say that there are games which define a team's season and it seems like last Sunday was one of them games for Manchester City. After a recent Champions League exit and succumbing to their first defeat of the campaign, Sunday's game against Arsenal was a must win fixture to help keep top spot coming into a very busy Christmas period.
Silva celebrates netting City's 50th goal of the season
It was possibly one of the most entertaining games of the season, and is proving why the games between the big teams are starting to give a good picture of the quality of this league.
However, many expect that tonight's game against FA Cup runners up Stoke City will be much more straight forward for the Blues. 2011 has been a great year for Manchester City, especially at home, where they have dropped just two points, which was against Fulham earlier this year.
So, with all this taken into context, it would be a great shock if Stoke could pull of a positive result here tonight. The home side have been in scintillating form so far this season whilst Stoke's form has been very inconsistent due to their participation in the Europa League, evidenced by heavy defeats at Sunderland and Bolton.
The worrying news for Stoke fans is that they are facing a team that have scored 50 goals in 16 games, which was last matched 49 years ago. And when you have conceded at least three goals on more than five occasions, you have to worry for the away side if the league leaders get an early goal.
Man City will be boosted by the news that Gael Clichy returns from his suspension, but he will have to perform well after Pablo Zabaleta's man of the match performance against Arsenal when he filled the void left by Clichy. Edin Dzeko is also expected to start after shaking off the knock he picked up in training.
Stoke's defence will be significantly weaker tonight, as captain Ryan Shawcross misses out due to picking up five yellow cards this season, whilst Vincent Kompany is set to make his 150th appearance for Manchester City.
Stoke are also missing Glenn Whealan and Andy Wilkinson, both of whom have been very influential for the Potters this season.
One player City will have to watch out for is Peter Crouch, who is one goal away from 100 career goals, and his presence will certainly be felt by City's backline. Can Stoke City make it five wins in a row in the Premier League and create a new club record? It seems unlikely.
With 10 clubs having been previewed, we look at the last 10 teams with only 3 days left to go before the start of the season. Today, we'll preview the chances of Newcastle United, Norwich City, Queens Park Rangers, Stoke City and Sunderland
