Sergio Agüero, otherwise known as: ‘the man to get you some Fantasy points’, displayed to the world what an excellent footballing comeback resembles. On foreign soil, at Stoke’s Britannia Stadium, Manchester City absolutely shone in their 25th Premier League match. Not only did James Milner and Samir Nasri bring justice for their team with a goal each, but Agüero snatched two as well. With Peter Crouch eagerly netting for Stoke five minutes after City stole the lead, and two yellow cards awarded to City scorers, it was not as plain sailing as it could have been for the visitors. But one thing was for sure: the Argentine was ready and raring to give Stoke hell.
Following a knee injury that put the striker out of action, supporters and league followers were certainly awaiting his return with baited breath. City have been enjoying second place exclusively for some time this season, yawning at the efforts of yo-yoing third and fourth position holders, Manchester United and Southampton, respectively. United and City will forever battle to emerge the ultimate Mancunian side, but Manuel Pellegrini’s men seem most reluctant to forfeit the silver spot.
Against Stoke, it seemed that Mark Hughes’ boys were poised for a fight; Agüero has long been a fierce opponent in the Premier League, much like Chelsea’s formidable Diego Costa. It appeared that Crouch was prepared to defend the honour of his club throughout the game, and home fans were all too chuffed to see one of Agüero’s attempts disallowed for illegal conduct; the somewhat Maradona-esque ‘Hand of God’ (Daily Mail Online, February 2015) foul was not taken lightly. Although it’s a little easy or convenient to flit to conclusions about Agüero’s intention, he’s one player anxious to regain his typical knack with the ball; granted, it wasn’t an intelligent choice to raise a hand towards the ball, but possibly just an error of judgment. It was obviously quibbled by both sides as to whether Agüero’s fingers stroked the ball as it careered into the net, but the man to beat became the man to stop – whatever it took.
Despite poor conduct from the plucky Argentine, he really did help his team secure such a big win against Stoke; goals in the 33rd and 70th minutes meant that Agüero had bagged half of City’s goals during the fixture, and was looking back on fine form. In order for City to retain their newfound success, they must take heed of how well they performed against Stoke and recycle that pattern ready to use against Newcastle on 21st February. The goal collective of the evening conveyed just how much City pack in terms of power; Pellegrini must be clever, tactical and alert in order to make some wise decisions and squeeze the best out of his players. Chelsea sit seven points clear of City’s threat currently, but this gap could begin to minimise if City apply the right pressure to their competition.
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