Sergio Aguero turned in another scintillating performance
with two goals against Stoke to send Manchester City
top of the table on Christmas Day for the first time
since 1929.
• Jolly: City pass yet another test
• Pulis: Leaders City still have regrets
With one-time hero Carlos Tevez due to be at the centre
of talks between City officials and their AC Milan counterparts
on Thursday, the man who stepped into his shoes as the
most popular South American at the club took centre
stage.
Signed for a club record £38 million from Atletico
Madrid in the summer, unlike Tevez, who remains back
in Argentina and has been nothing but trouble for the
past 12 months, Aguero has not been a moment's bother.
At least, he has not been a problem to City. Opposition
defences may choose to disagree.
Beaten by tonight's opponents in last season's FA Cup
final, Stoke were the latest to feel the force of Aguero's
power, the striker bagging a goal either side of the
interval to take his seasonal tally to 15.
Adam Johnson enjoyed himself too, completing his first
full 90 minutes in the Premier League since the middle
of October and marking the occasion with a powerful
first-half strike.
Although Kolo Toure suggested earlier in the week that
City had a secret plan for facing Stoke, it was the
visitors who had the weapon.
It was largely defensive though, with Pulis utilising
four burly defenders, including Jonathan Woodgate at
full-back, with another solid bank of four in front
of them.
For a time it worked as City struggled to fashion a
clear-cut opening.
Johnson did hit a thunderous effort against the bar
but only thanks to a pretty hefty deflection off Marc
Wilson.
It was a limited plan though, belying the fine run
of form Stoke have suddenly found themselves in after
a period in the doldrums.
And they were made to pay just before the half hour
after Samir Nasri and David Silva worked a short corner
routine that allowed the Spain star to race forward
unopposed after his team-mate's dummy run had fooled
two defenders.
Silva exploited the opportunity by slipping a pass
through to Yaya Toure, who in turn squared into the
six-yard area.
Thomas Sorensen was equal to Vincent Kompany's close-range
effort but the Dane could only push the ball into the
path of Aguero, who bundled home from barely a yard.
On the touchline, Tony Pulis was livid, believing the
officials had missed an offside somewhere in the melee.
There did not seem to be a direct involvement of play
at any stage though, and Pulis' ire was probably more
to do with the knowledge that, once behind, Stoke were
going to find it very difficult to fashion an equaliser.
Difficult became virtually impossible 10 minutes before
the break when slack control from Jon Waters, who failed
to kill Dean Whitehead's pass out of defence, allowing
it to run onto Johnson.
The England winger did not require a second invitation,
smashing a brutal effort through a packed penalty area,
Sorensen partially unsighted as it flashed into the
corner.
Johnson came close to bagging another just before the
break when Sorensen unconvincingly shovelled his curling
free-kick round the post.
The former Middlesbrough man was having a productive
evening, although he was matched in that by Aguero,
who after forcing Sorensen into another save, bagged
his second.
It was a goal clinical in its efficiency as Gareth
Barry slipped a pass out to Nasri, whose low cross from
the right split the Stoke defenders and allowed Aguero
to finish at the far post.
Aguero was 90 seconds too late to claim the Premier
League's 20,000th goal but he nearly completed his hat-trick
shortly afterwards, when he was sent through by Toure,
but only succeeded in flicking his shot wide of the
far post.
Blues manager Roberto Mancini took the opportunity
to rotate his players, including replacing Silva with
Mario Balotelli.
Although the game was winding down, Balotelli is not
one for staying out of the way for long and was not
happy when referee Mike Dean turned down his penalty
appeal when Robert Huth used an arm to block a shot.
It was all pantomime stuff though, unlike City's title
challenge, which is very real indeed.
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