Marko Arnautovic and Xherdan Shaqiri stole the show for Stoke City on Saturday lunchtime, producing a stellar attacking performance to blow away Manchester City 2-0 at a blustery Britannia Stadium.

The former netted two goals inside the opening 15 minutes from two wonderful assists from the latter, as City crumbled without a host of key men. In a minor positive for the visitors, David Silva started his first Premier League game for two months, but without Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure and Vincent Kompany, Manuel Pellegrini’s side were overpowered and outplayed.

The win takes Stoke up into ninth position ahead of the day’s later fixtures, while City, who remain top despite this poor showing, could be usurped by Leicester City, Manchester United and Arsenal.

Although both teams’ starting lineups were packed with intricate attacking players, the elements in the Potteries were not really suited to technical football, as we can see courtesy of the Press Association’s Carl Markham:

They were conditions that City struggled with from the off, but backed by a typically raucous home crowd, Stoke capitalised after seven minutes.

Shaqiri, a marquee summer signing making steady progress in the last few matches, bustled past his marker and fizzed in an inch-perfect cross. Arnautovic, who scored the winner against Chelsea for the Potters earlier this season, had the simple task of slotting home from close range, sending the home fans into delirium.

The wing wizardry of the Swiss was to be applauded, but the defending from the visitors left much to be desired. As Squawka Football noted, without captain Kompany at the back, City have struggled to keep opponents out:

With a team bursting with attacking quality on the pitch, the home side didn’t really possess the personnel to sit back and seek to soak up pressure after that early goal. They continued to keep the heat on their illustrious opponents, with Shaqiri in particular running riot down the right flank against Aleksandar Kolarov.

So it was no surprise to see the Switzerland international heavily involved as Stoke doubled their advantage in the 15th minute, again putting one on a plate for Aranutovic. This time, the former Inter Milan and Bayern Munich man drifted infield, turned his man with a dazzling spin and threaded an immaculate pass into the path of his team-mate.

Although the Austrian had bagged an eight-minute brace against the league leaders, social media was purring over the early exploits of Shaqiri, per Bleacher Report UK:

The Potters remained insatiable in their forward forays, as City’s midfield pairing of Fernando and Fernandinho were overrun. Indeed, Arnautovic should have completed his hat-trick before the break, as one header drifted just wide of Joe Hart’s post and another shot, after yet another fine pass from Shaqiri, hit the woodwork.

At half-time, City trudged off two down and having failed to test Stoke ‘keeper Jack Butland with any significant strikes at goal.

NBC Sports Network summed up the size of the challenge facing Pellegrini’s side, per World Soccer Talk:

After the break, the pattern of the game remained the same, with City floundering in their attempts to get back into the contest. So it was no surprise to see Pellegrini take decisive action early in the second period, with Kelechi Iheanacho, Fabian Delph and then Jesus Navas introduced before the 61-minute mark.

Stoke continued to pile forward, though, and just to rub salt into the wounds, they seemed to be really enjoying themselves.

In the 69th minute, they put together a delightful pattern, as Bojan released Arnautovic with a delightful flick, who then squared it for Shaqiri for what should have been a tremendous team goal. The Swiss was agonisingly short of prodding the finish past Hart, but a cacophony of cheers from the home crowd followed nonetheless. 

The Guardian’s Nick Miller was also thoroughly enjoying the standard of football being exhibited by the home side:

Although they were profligate with their chances, Stoke never really looked threatened by the visitors’ star-studded squad.

City were tepid in all aspects of their play, and when an injured Fernando was withdrawn, leaving them to play with 10 men for the final 18 minutes of the match, their chances of an unlikely comeback were completely curtailed. It allowed Stoke to withdraw Shaqiri, to an inevitable standing ovation, and see out the remainder of the game with ease.

A windy day in Stoke used to pose an entirely different problem for visiting sides, with the hosts formerly intent on bombarding the opposition with long balls and heaved throw-ins into the box. But Mark Hughes and his men deserve enormous credit for this win, as they went toe-to-toe with City’s world-class attacking talent and came out emphatically on top.

For City, this was a concerning display. The manner in which they have crumbled at times this season without key men is an indictment on a squad that has been so expensively assembled. Pellegrini’s side missed a major opportunity to put some daylight between themselves and the chasing pack here, raising big doubts over their title credentials in the process.

 

Reaction

Afterwards, Shaqiri revealed the link-up with Arnautovic is something the pair had been working on in the build-up to the game, per BBC Sport:

We tried this [partnership with Marko Arnautovic] all week in training so we of course are happy that we scored in the game like this. It is important that we play how the coach wants and today we see that from the first minute we want to win the game. The two goals were very nice.

We have a very good team, we can win against every team in the Premier League. This year the league is weird, every team can lose. We must work hard together and that is the key for the season. We have a lot of potential.

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