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3 Key Takeaways: Citizens Run Through Stoke 4-1

By Larry Henry

STOKE ON TRENT, ENGLAND - AUGUST 20: Nolito of Manchester City celebrates scoring his sides fourth goal with team mates during the Premier League match between Stoke City and Manchester City at Bet365 Stadium on August 20, 2016 in Stoke on Trent, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
STOKE ON TRENT, ENGLAND - AUGUST 20: Nolito of Manchester City celebrates scoring his sides fourth goal with team mates during the Premier League match between Stoke City and Manchester City at Bet365 Stadium on August 20, 2016 in Stoke on Trent, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images) /
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STOKE ON TRENT, ENGLAND – AUGUST 20: Willy Cabellero of Manchester City saves Phillip Bardsley of Stoke City header during the Premier League match between Stoke City and Manchester City at Bet365 Stadium on August 20, 2016 in Stoke on Trent, England. (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Getty Images)
STOKE ON TRENT, ENGLAND – AUGUST 20: Willy Cabellero of Manchester City saves Phillip Bardsley of Stoke City header during the Premier League match between Stoke City and Manchester City at Bet365 Stadium on August 20, 2016 in Stoke on Trent, England. (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Getty Images) /

After their 2-1 opening day victory at home vs Sunderland, Manchester City picked up their first road victory of the 2016 Barclays Premier League season after defeating Stoke City 4-1 at the Bet365 Stadium Saturday morning.

Pep Guardiola‘s side were coming off a 5-0 thrashing victory over Romanian-side Steaua Bucharest on Tuesday in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League playoff draw.

Sergio Aguero was coming into Saturday’s match at Stoke in good form after netting four goals in his first two competitive matches of the season.  Stoke were coming off a 1-1 draw at Premier League newcomers Middlesbrough last weekend. 

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After 27 minutes, City had a 1-0 advantage as Aguero scored calmly from the penalty spot. Even though he missed two penalties in Romania on Tuesday, the Argentinian’s shot went into the left side of the goal past Stoke keeper Shay Given.

The penalty was given after defender Nicolas Otamendi was pulled down by Stoke’s Ryan Shawcross on a corner-kick. Nine minutes later, Aguero doubled his tally, this time heading home a Kevin De Bruyne free-kick. Going into halftime, Guardiola’s men had a 2-0 advantage on the road.

Stoke pulled a goal back two minutes into the second half, when Bojan scored from the penalty spot. Raheem Sterling was the guilty figure conceding the penalty by grabbing Shawcross on a free-kick.

Substitute Nolito came on late in the second half and tallied two goals of his own to put the game out of reach at 4-1. The first was a tap-in following a cut-back and assist from Kelechi Iheanacho. The second came on a two-on-one break, when Sterling played Nolito in for his second tap-in goal of the game.

It was a deserved victory for the Citizens, as they dominated in the first half, and were rarely threatened seriously in the second half. Willy Caballero made two saves for City, while Given made two saves for Stoke as well. City led 57% to 43% in possession for the match. 

According to BBC Sport, Pep Guardiola credited the quality of his players for the victory on Saturday.”I realize how good the players are, I am a lucky guy because the quality of the players here is amazing. They run and fight for each other, and today we played in one of the toughest places of the season. It was a pity we created a lot in the second half but the last pass was not correct.”

Three Key Takeaways

After watching the match this morning, here are the three key takeaways from City’s second win of the season.

1) Sergio Aguero looks prime to win the Golden Boot.
After tallying six goals in his first three competitive fixtures of the season, Aguero looks easily the best forward in the Premier League. The Argentinian is scoring at a great rate and helping City earn some important victories to start their season. The best part was seeing him bounce back after missing two penalty kicks midweek, by scoring a PK today. Guardiola knew the talent he was getting in Aguero when he decided to join Manchester City, but I’m sure he didn’t even think he was going to get this fast of a start by his star striker.

2) Defense looks solid for third consecutive match.
Today’s City line-up featured a back-line of Pablo Zabaleta, Nicolas Otamendi, John Stones, and Aleksandar Kolarov. Even after playing in Tuesday’s Champions League tie, Guardiola decided to keep the same wing-backs in. Overall, the defense seemed to work together well while limiting Stoke to only a few real chances of offensive pressure. Eliaquim Mangala failed to make the bench today, while Vincent Kompany is still out recovering from last season’s calf problems. In the first three competitive matches of the season, the back-line has only allowed two goals combined. Going forward, I believe that this should be the line-up featuring for City, at least until Kompany can prove his fitness.

3) Nolito shined for City off the bench. 
After starting in Bucharest midweek, Nolito started today’s match on the bench. Jesus Navas got the nod in midfield and did a good job of creating opportunities down the right-wing. Nolito, who was acquired from Celta Vigo this summer for £13.8 million, has tallied three goals now for City in the last two matches. The 29-year-old Spaniard provides great depth as another attacking winger, and some good skill with the ball at his feet. If he continues to score for Guardiola, it will be hard to not have him in the starting line-up. 

Next: City Transfer Watch: City set to sign £10m wonderkid Ante Coric

Up next for City, is the second leg of their UEFA Champions League playoff draw on Wednesday at the Etihad Stadium. They currently have a 5-0 aggregate lead over Steaua Bucharest.