Manchester City – Stoke City 0-1 Match Report

Stats

Referee:  Lee Mason
Possession: City 72% Stoke 28%
Bookings:  City: Fernandinho, Yaya Toure. Stoke: Bardsley
Stoke goal: Biram Diouf (58)
Attendance: 45,622

Match Shots

Ratings:

Hart: Had little to do, but was beaten far too easily for Stoke’s goal. A top class goal keeper should not be nutmegged like that: 5
Sagna: Did well to keep Moses quiet and had one good cutback in attack in the first half. Other than that he didn’t offer much going forward. Might have done more to cover across in the second half when Stoke scored: 6
Kompany: As ever, he took responsibility. He tried to get us going but his passing not always at its best: 6
Demichelis: Beaten by Crouch in the air quite frequently: 5
Kolarov: Outpaced for the goal and soon afterwards. His crossing was poor. It was his worst game for a while: 4
Nasri: Tried to create but like his team mates, his final ball wasn’t good enough to break through Stoke’s defensive blanket: 6
Yaya: Tried to find a goal, and went closest with three shots. Should have had a penalty but theatrics cost him. Didn’t always chase back when Stoke broke on us: 6
Fernando: Competitive until he went off with a groin injury. One can’t help thinking he woud have tackled Diouf and this prevented Stoke’s goal, had he still been on the pitch: n/a
Silva: As ever he strived to create, but the gaps were at a premium. 6
Jovetic: He wasn’t in the game and was a bit static by his standards. He didn’t get much service to be fair: 5
Aguero: Lively and looked to creative even in tight spaces: 6

Subs:

Fernandinho: Booked, and this affected him later when he was passed by Biram Diouf too easily, when he got too square on: 5 Navas (for Nasri 63): He used his pace well and was our best hope of creating something when he came on. We could have done with earlier: 6
Dzeko (for Jovetic 63) : Went close. 6

Best Oppo: Crouch: Busy at both ends, winning most challenges in the air: 8

Ref-watch: Lee Mason: How can one referee make so many mistakes? It would be very kind to say he was “inconsistent”. Consistently poor, more like: 2