Pep passes his first big test
City boss comes through storm at Stoke following controversial penalty calls
STOKE 1 Bojan 49 pen MANCITY 4 Aguero 27 pen, 36, Nolito 86, 90
SO Pep Guardiola can win on a windy day at Stoke. Rather emphatically too, as it turns out.
Anyone who questioned the character of his developing Manchester City team, or how Guardiola’s beautiful game would stand up to a typically robust examination here, got a pretty unequivocal answer.
It was not easy, it never is at what we now call the bet365 Stadium. Do not be fooled by the scoreline.
But City were good value for the victory that maintains Guardiola’s flying start at the Etihad. That is three games, three wins and 11 goals now — six of them to Sergio Aguero. Guardiola had been warned what to expect from a visit to the Potteries and was not disappointed.
‘The players showed here in one of the toughest games in the Premier League, in the conditions when it’s windy, that they have a lot of quality,’ he said. The only thing he could not have foreseen was the circumstances surrounding City’s victory, which were still being debated long after the final whistle.
Referee Mike Dean followed a new directive this season by awarding penalties to both teams when he spotted players being unfairly impeded at corners, a problem that has blighted the game for too long.
Stoke manager Mark Hughes expressed concern that the ‘purge’ on it will be only temporary, and could not resist a dig at Dean for taking centre stage.
‘We had a penalty awarded against us at a key moment and it knocked us sideways,’ said Hughes. ‘We know the directives. This time last year the penalty wouldn’t have been awarded.
‘We benefited from an award in the second half. This time last year, that wouldn’t have been awarded either.
‘Let’s hope every time Mike Dean referees, he referees in the same manner. In my experience, there is usually a purge for three to four weeks. Mike Dean is one of the more high-profile referees so maybe he enjoys that centre of attention.’
The first incident occurred when Ryan Shawcross was penalised for clutching hold of Nicolas Otamendi’s left arm at a corner. It was a clear infringement and one that Shawcross, among others, has got away with too often in the past. Despite failing from the spot twice against Steaua Bucharest in a Champions League play-off in midweek, Aguero backed himself to take another and despatched it emphatically past Shay Given. The Argentina striker doubled City’s lead nine minutes later with a glancing header from Kevin de Bruyne’s free-kick, though Hughes will want to know why he was able to steal in between Philipp Wollscheid and Glenn Whelan for his 20th goal in 20 Premier League games in 2016.
The Stoke manager was no happier that Dean turned down Stoke’s claims for a penalty just before halftime after Willy Caballero made a fantastic block to keep out Phil Bardsley’s fierce volley at the back post. In the scramble that followed, Mame Diouf steered a free header hopelessly wide but not before Joe Allen had gone down under a clumsy challenge from Aleksandar Kolarov who appeared to trip the Stoke debutant and shove him in the neck.
‘It was a clear penalty,’ said
Hughes. ‘The assistant had a clear view, or should have done, and wasn’t prepared to put the flag up.’
The Welshman loitered by the tunnel at half-time to make his feelings known to Dean. It may have had an influence when he pointed to the spot again three minutes after the restart. This time City were penalised for impeding at a corner, with Raheem Sterling the unlikely culprit. Twice the England winger put his hands on Shawcross but it was the fact that he was not even looking at the ball that counted against him. ‘A little strange,’ was how Guardiola described the decision.
Bojan converted from the spot and suddenly City were up against it. But Stoke were extinguished by two late goals from sub Nolito, set up by Kelechi Iheanacho’s unselfish work, and Sterling from close-range.
That was the cue for City’s fans to break into their new tribute chant to Guardiola, sung to the tune of Glad All Over by The Dave Clark Five.
‘The only thing I recognised was the name,’ he admitted. ‘I didn’t understand what they said but thank you. When they’re happy, we’re happy.’