Stoke: Manchester City were unable to give manager Roberto Mancini something to celebrate on his 1000th day in charge of the club as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Stoke. Stoke withstood late pressure to hold City to a draw. Stoke goalie Asmir Begovic made a late save and defender Ryan Shawcross cleared the ball off the line to make sure the defending champion dropped points for the second time this season.
Striker Peter Crouch gave Stoke the lead when he beat Joe Hart in the 15th minute, but Javi Garcia scored on his debut for City by heading in a cross from Carlos Tevez to level the match in the 35th. Garcia then almost scored a last-minute winner but Begovic pushed his header from a corner onto the post and Shawcross chased back after Edin Dzeko lobbed the goalkeeper in injury time.
Michael Owen was forced to wait for his Stoke City debut as he was named on the subs bench, Tony Pulis opting for a solid 4-5-1 formation to try and contain the Champions. There were starts for Steven N'Zonzi and Charlie Adam following their moves to the Britannia Stadium in the summer.
The visitors dominated the game with some excellent interplay in midfield between Yaya Toure and Garcia, the Spaniard looking like he’d been playing for the club for years rather than actually making his debut. The moment a lot of Stoke fans had been waiting for arrived in the final moments of the match as Owen was introduced in place of Crouch to a standing ovation from the crowd, but the striker had no chance to give the fans the goal they wanted.
Comments
0 comment