STOKE CITY 1, MANCHESTER CITY 4
- Sergio Aguero nets 5th and 6th goals from 3 games this season including another penalty
- Aleksandar Kolarov foul on Joe Allen not penalised with penalty
- Bojan Krkic pulls one back with early second half penalty after Sterling obstructs Ryan Shawcross
- Substitute Nolito is set up for two easy tap-ins late on to make the game safe
New FA directive punishes both Stoke City and Manchester City
A pair of braces by Sergio Aguero and Nolito sandwiched a Bojan Krkic penalty as Manchester City made light of a potentially tricky trip to Stoke City for Premier League newcomer Pep Guardiola.
This game will be shown on replays across Europe just to show the effects of the new FA directive regarding wrestling or grappling of players in the box.
Grappling of attackers by defenders at set pieces has been a common problem across Europe, and punishment with bookings and penalties could see incidents reduce.
And there was also a distinct lack of players surrounding the referee to remonstrate with decisions made – last weekend saw bookings for players who beat a path to officials to argue their point en masse.
But referee Mike Dean may be disappointed he missed another blatant penalty which might have dragged Stoke right back into contention at a windy Bet365 Stadium at the start of the second half.
City have now scored 11 goals in three games, with nine of them coming away from home so far this season.
Aguero himself has bagged six of the goals and missed two penalties in those three games for Pep Guardiola as City looked like scoring or winning a penalty every time they attacked at Stoke.
City opted for just one change from the side that put Steaua Bucharest to the sword. Jesus Navas’ experience of playing against Stoke meant that he replaced Nolito.
A tale of penalties given, and not given
And City soon took the lead after the first of two penalty incidents which were awarded for grappling.
Nicolas Otamendi was pulled back by Ryan Shawcross in the Stoke box. Shawcross had no complaints after Dean awarded the penalty and booked him.
And Aguero made no mistake after the two missed penalties against Steaua Bucharest in midweek to put City into a 27th minute lead.
It was his fourth penalty attempt in three games for City this season, and he scored his 16th out of 19 spot kicks in the Premier League for the Argentine.
Aguero doubled his tally less then ten minutes later when his glancing header from Kevin De Bruyne’s free kick diverted past Shay Given in the Stoke goal.
Stoke mounted a spirited comeback at the start of the second half and Mike Dean surely would have awarded a penalty if he had a view of a clumsy Kolarov challenge shortly after Willy Caballero acrobatically blocked Phil Bardsley’s volley.
Stoke did get a penalty minutes later, when Raheem Sterling was booked for obstructing Shawcross while making no attempt to win the ball – worth a comparison with Shawcross’s own earlier penalty call.
Bojan Krkic put the spot kick away but City pulled away in the last four minutes when Kelechi Iheanacho exchanged passes with David Silva, rounded Shay Given, and then unselfishly squared the ball for Nolito to tap in after the Nigerian had gone wide.
And Nolito slotted home in the dying seconds when he was a beneficiary of another unselfish pass, this time from Sterling on another breakaway, to tuck City’s fourth into an empty net.
City set to sign new goalkeeper
Caballero’s time in the first team may be drawing to an end after it was reported by Barcelona that a deal for Claudio Bravo is close after they signed a replacement in Ajax ‘keeper Jasper Cillessen.
The news may see Joe Hart demoted to third choice ‘keeper unless he opts for a move, either permanent or on loan.