Stoke City vs. Manchester City: Winners and Losers from Premier League Game
Manchester City recorded their first league win in five attempts by downing Stoke City, 4-1, at the Britannia Stadium.
Sergio Aguero opened the scoring from an acute angle, Peter Crouch levelled with a great header and Aguero had a goal ruled out for handball just before half-time.
In the second period, the Citizens took over, with Aguero doubling his tally and both James Milner and Samir Nasri getting in on the act.
Here, B/R picks its winners and losers from the game.
Winner: Victor Moses
1 of 5
Victor Moses had his way with this Manchester City XI for the first 25 minutes, turning Pablo Zabaleta and Co. inside out.
The Nigerian played in a loose role that allowed him to drift and find space, and every time he turned and ran toward goal, the City defence backed off abruptly. Several shots skimmed wide, and he gave Joe Hart hell all evening.
When he's confident and firing, he's some player.
Loser: Mark Hughes, Whose Defensive 'Plan' Looked Awful, to Say the Least
2 of 5
When managers face up to Manchester City—no matter what form they're in—they typically try to shore up defensively and address things from the back going forward.
Not Mark Hughes!
Stoke City went at them for 90 minutes and left themselves wide open at the back. We lost count of the amount of times the Citizens sauntered through on the counter-attack only to miss, not pass or lose the ball. This scoreline could have been huge.
Winner: James Milner, Who Continues to Reinforce His Value
3 of 5
James Milner scored a delightful headed goal to put Manchester City back ahead on the night, and his general performance was fantastic, to say the least.
B/R's Rob Pollard was thoroughly impressed with the goal:
"City’s second was the goal of the night, as Silva and Nasri combined beautifully on the right before the Frenchman delivered a wonderful ball that was met by the head of Milner who planted firmly past Begovic."
He never lets his side down, and it's performances like these that make you wonder why the Citizens haven't tied him down to a new three- or four-year deal.
All action, all energy and the finishing touch.
"PELLEGRINI: 'Milner brings spirit and personality to our team' - plus update on @aguerosergiokun injury http://t.co/PNdWFKs7KN #mcfc
— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) February 11, 2015"
Loser: The Notion of Teamwork
4 of 5
Had Manchester City's players performed selflessly and as a team at the Britannia Stadium, it could have been 10-1.
Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Fernandinho, Edin Dzeko and more were all guilty of greed in front of goal, desperate to boost their own personal tallies despite the constant option to cede possession in favor of a team-mate's tap-in finish.
It didn't cost them, so Manuel Pellegrini likely won't make a point of it, but the level of selfishness among the City attackers was astonishing.
Winner: Samir Nasri, Who Showed His Importance
5 of 5
Much has been made of Yaya Toure's absence and Sergio Aguero's fitness issues, and despite the latter's goalscoring performance on Wednesday, it's Samir Nasri who should grab the headlines.
During a ropey first 25 minutes for Manchester City in which they were thoroughly dominated, Nasri looked like the only one capable of producing anything in the final third.
Later, he scored the fourth to ice the result, reminding us all how much of a threat he can be from outside the box. Manuel Pellegrini has really missed the Frenchman lately; he'll be delighted he's back.
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