CITY SLIP UP On top again but Mancini will rue draw
STOKE CITY .................1 MANCHESTER CITY ......1
TWO stunning goals lit up this game, but the crucial statistic was the single point gained by Manchester City.
It took them back to the top of the Premier League table, ahead of rivals Manchester United on goal difference, but having played a game more.
A draw at Stoke is never a bad result, but with the title race so fierce, and United winning so many matches, every slip-up seems magnified in its significance.
City finished dejected, yet the fact remains that the essential requirement for Roberto Mancini’s side has not changed.
If they win all their remaining fixtures they will be champions barring an avalanche change in goal difference.
What we will remember from this fixture are stupendous goals.
The first came from Stoke striker Peter Crouch in the 58th minute as he lurked without threat five yards outside the angle of City’s penalty area.
A long ball forward was headed back to him by Jermaine Pennant, and when Crouch controlled the ball there was still no apparent danger.
He then did the impossible, catching the ball on the volley and sending it in a perfect arc over the head of City keeper Joe Hart.
City’s equaliser in the 76th minute was almost as good.
Yaya Toure was closer to the centre circle than the penalty area when he tried a ferocious but speculative drive from fully 40 yards.
It was an absurd effort, but the ball took a slight deflection off the head of Shawcross and still burst through the hands of keeper Asmir Begovic.
Despite a frantic finale, that was it,