Shaqiri and Arnautovic PIMP OUT Man City in windy and cold Stoke

I told you. I told you. This Stoke City team at home when the conditions are in their favor, are a force to be reckoned with. It was windy, it was cold, the weather was not ideal to move the ball around the floor like City are accustomed to and it played right into Stoke's hands as they totally ran the "Champions-elect" off the pitch from start to finish.






The two main players who were at the center of this reconstruction were Arnautovic (who was desperate to get into a Boxing match after the match ended) and Shaqiri who was the best player on the pitch, reminding people of his talents. City's high defensive line, and marking was awful and each time Shaqiri was able to find clever balls into the spaces and twice in the game, Arnautovic managed to finish off the service from his Swiss colleague.

You have to commend Mark Hughes. This wasn't just the tough and rugged Stoke City. There was aggression and physicality, but the better football was being played by Stoke. They moved it better, created proper chances, and were the team that deserved to win. City just have a mental block when they come to these neck of the woods, and being down by two goals so early, they weren't able to get themselves back in the game. This is the kind of a game where you have to be prepared to play from the whistle. If you're not on it minute to minute, especially when the weather isn't ideal, then you will get beat. It's as simple as that.

The result did not surprise me. I've felt like the lone voice in saying City are not the favorites for the title, and this is exactly why. They always end up messing up like this, against teams that they should be beating. Stoke City at home are very strong, but City are a much better team than them with better players. Even without Aguero and Kompany and Toure, they should still be able to get it done with the players they have. Bony looks like a dud buy and Sterling keeps adding weight to my claim that he's a good player, but highly overrated.

Well done to Stoke, and they have reminded the world that if you come to their house when it's cold, wet and windy; you best be prepared for a dogfight and be able to play properly. City were not prepared, lacked that sharp edge and Stoke took advantage as they deservedly took them down, and made this again a very wide open Premiership title race.



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