Pep’s City prove they can go to Stoke and win RESULTS
BUT can his team do it on a windy day at Stoke? The answer to that question, for Pep Guardiola and his new Manchester City side, is yes, as they showed in battling their way to a 4-1 victory yesterday.
It wasn’t easy, it rarely is here. Don’t be fooled by the scoreline. Despite taking a two-goal lead through Sergio Aguero, City were made to fight by a determined Stoke side.
For the second Premier League game in a row, Guardiola emerged victorious from a difficult encounter to continue his winning start to life in English football.
The talking points will centre around Mike Dean’s decision to award penalties in favour of both teams for impeding at set pieces, in what appears to be a new directive for referees this season, while denying Stoke a strong claim for a second.
Aguero, who missed twice from the spot in a Champions League play-off against Steaua Bucharest in midweek before scoring a hattrick, converted City’s penalty and headed a second goal. The Argentine has now scored six times in three games this season, not to mention 20 in 20 Premier League matches in 2016.
Bojan Krkic pulled one back following Stoke’s penalty, but substitute Nolito wrapped up victory with two late goals as City came through another severe test of character.
The fixture list hadn’t been kind in sending Guardiola to what we now refer to as the bet365 Stadium for his first away game in the league, and the Spaniard knew exactly what to expect.
“All the managers try to control as much as possible about their team, but the weather we cannot control,” he said on the eve of this game. “We are going to play with the conditions. We want to win the title, and to fight for the title you have to adapt.”
The upset of the day came at Turf Moor, where promoted Burnley enjoyed their first win on the club’s return to the top flight after strikers Sam Vokes and Andre Gray produced superb first-half goals to give them a 2-0 win over Liverpool.
Fans had barely settled in their seats when Vokes beat goalkeeper Simon Mignolet with a rasping shot in the second minute, after Gray found him on the edge of the penalty area.
Gray celebrated his first Pre- Manchester United 2 Southampton 0
Stoke City 1 Manchester City 4, Burnley 2 Liverpool 0, Swansea City 0 Hull City 2, Tottenham Hotspur 1 Crystal Palace 0, Watford 1 Chelsea 2, West Bromwich Albion 1 Everton 2, Leicester City 0 Arsenal 0
Sunderland v Middlesbrough (2.30pm) West Ham United v Bournemouth (5pm) – Reuters mier League goal, cutting inside two markers and unleashing a crisp, low shot from 18 metres which beat Mignolet at the near post, after excellent work from Belgium midfielder Steven Defour.
Missing new signing Sadio Mane due to a shoulder injury, Liverpool were a pale shadow of the side that earned a 4-3 win at Arsenal on the opening day of the season.
For all their possession, the visitors were reduced to sporadic long-range efforts against a well-organised Burnley defence.
“The first goal came early and settled us down. The crowd was bouncing. It was good to settle those nerves. Second half, we knew we had to dig in and defend for our lives. That’s what we did,” said a jubilant Vokes.
“Our decision-making was not good,” said Reds boss Jurgen Klopp.
“We’d put in a good cross, but there were no bodies in the box, and then when we had bodies in the box, we ended up shooting.
Key moment
“The season is still young. It doesn’t look like we are 100% fine tuned. The lesson here is don’t give the ball away like we did twice today. We will work on it 100%. We need to have a plan for deep defending teams. We have a few things to do, that is clear.”
Liverpool’s Merseyside rivals Everton also conceded a goal early, but were able to fight back to win their match at West Brom.
“It’s always hard to play against West Brom, the teams of Tony Pulis,” said Everton manager Ronald Koeman.
“They have direct play and a lot of tall people. After nine minutes we were 1-0 down and we had to change the system. The one run (Mirallas goal) before half-time was a key moment.
“In this system with Gerard Deulofeu up front, you hope to get behind the defenders, but they dropped further back. Then you bring on Romelu Lukaku. We had two big chances at 2-1 up. We fought for everything.
“Lukaku, when he came on, and Yannick Bolasie came on (both did well). Bolasie’s experience and defensive qualities you need in the team. It’s difficult for a manager to pick his best XI. We finished strong today. We can improve, but we are much better than one week ago.”
Hull caretaker boss Mike Phelan was delighted with his team’s 2-0 victory over Swansea: “We still are short on numbers and have to be realistic. It was a tremendous performance, and the character of the group has been brilliant. The players stuck to their task and we created more chances than them.
“We only have 13 senior players fit, and it was an opportunity to get Shaun Maloney out there.It paid off, especially for him.
“There are two sides to a game of football. We knew what Swansea would do with the ball, and it was about conserving energy,” said Phelan, as his team became only the second team to win promotion and triumph in their first two games of the season. The previous side to achieve it was Bolton in 2001/02.
Chelsea scored twice in the last 10 minutes to beat Watford 2-1 and earn their second victory of the season. Watford’s Etienne Capoue smashed a swerving shot past keeper Thibaut Courtois and into the top corner of the net after 55 minutes following a cross from the right by Adlene Guedioura.
Chelsea equalised 10 minutes from time, substitute Michy Batshuayi following up to tap the ball home for his first goal for the club after Eden Hazard’s fierce shot was saved by Heurelho Gomes.
Substitute Cesc Fabregas then released Diego Costa with a sublime pass and the striker finished calmly three minutes from the end to seal victory for Antonio Conte’s team.
Victor Wanyama grabbed a late goal, his first for the club, to earn Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 victory over London rivals Crystal Palace.
Spurs dominated the first half, but Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey made three fine saves to keep the visitors in the game.
Palace midfielder Yohan Cabaye missed a good chance on the hour, blazing a shot wastefully over the bar after being teed up by Spurs old boy Andros Townsend.
Spurs striker Vincent Janssen also spurned an excellent opportunity when he shot wide after being sent clear by a fine pass from substitute Dele Alli, but Wanyama headed in from close range following a corner to seal the points seven minutes from time. – Daily Mail & Reuters