Mitch Freeley

Match Report

Manchester City has regained their sixteen point lead at the top of the Premier League with a comprehensive 2-0 win over Stoke. David Silva scored a goal in either half, as Pep Guardiola's side brushed aside their opponents with ease. 

The league leaders set the tempo from the ninth minute, to take an early lead. Gabriel Jesus who replaced Sergio Aguero in the side picked out an onrushing Raheem Sterling on the ring wing. The England international drilled in a perfect cross to David Silva, who hit the ball first-time past a hapless Jack Butland to give the champions-elect an early lead. 

Unsurprisingly City continued to pile forward for a second goal, with Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus and Sane all went close to doubling the lead in the first half. Stoke did well in keeping up with the league leaders and perhaps should have levelled when Shaqiri nut-megged Zinchenko on the right byline, the Swiss star picks out Ndiaye who should have done better with the shot. The first half ended 1-0 to Man City. 

With the second half barely four minutes old, Man City effectively killed off the tie with a second goal for Silva. A quick pass between Jesus & Silva saw the ball lofted into the Spanish playmaker in the Stoke box. With an onrushing Butland, Silva deftly flicked the ball past the keeper to give City the 2-0 lead. 

City bossed the remainder of the contest and in truth, Stoke barely troubled their opponents in the second half. Pep Guardiola's side now just need three victories to seal the title, which could be won against local rivals Manchester United. 

Live Updates

Second Half

90+5- FULL-TIME 2-0  Turns out Pep's side can do it on a cold night in Stoke! David Silva with a brace. City have a 16 point lead at the top of the table.

90+2 Late corner for City. Who has decided to play it short, yet more possession for the Citizens, the away fans are in full voice now. 

90+ Five minutes of extra time to be played, mainly down to that clash of heads earlier on. 

89- Jesus who is roundly jeered by Stoke fans leaves the pitch. He is replaced by Gündogan

88-  Ramadan Sobhi is on for Cameron as a late sub for Stoke. 

87- Keep ball for City as the Bet 365 stadium empties. 

84- Sub for City Sterling makes way for Bernardo Silva

81- Silva goes for a hat-trick! His shot flies wide. He's been fantastic this evening. 

78- City rather unsportingly steal the drop ball, with Sterling haring away towards goal. The Stoke players are not happy. Sterling rounds the keeper but Ndiaye saves it for Stoke. 

76- Break of play as Otamendi and Stafylidis clash heads.

72- City on the break! De Bruyne plays through Kyle Walker who is bearing down on goal. He smashes the ball wide. That would have been his first goal for Man City, had he had some composure. 

70- City has started to boss possession again. They are biding their time for a third. 

63- Crouch keeps the ball in play at the back post and the ball bobbles around the Man City box. It eventually falls to Martins Indi, his acrobatic effort blazes over. 

62- Rare move forward from Stoke Shaqiri dances past a few City players. Passes to Jesse who wins a dangerous free-kick. It's the last action from the Spaniard as Peter Crouch replaces him. 

59- All City at the minute. They are looking for a third. This time Sane whips a ball towards goal 25 yards out. The ball skims wide past Butland's goal. 

55- Side netting City! De Bruyne picks out Fernandinho. His low shot rebounds off the netting. 

52- That is game over now. Masterful stuff from City to kill off the game. Lambert looks gutted, but you can't do much against a goal of that quality. 

49- GOAL! Dream start for the league leaders- 2-0 David Silva at the double! Silva and Jesus combine passes, with the Brazilian lofting the ball Silva who calmly dinks the ball into the net. 

Peep! City, dressed in black get us underway for the second half. 

A bit of breaking news for you. Mauricio Pellegrino has parted ways with Southampton. 

First Half

Half-Time- City 1- Stoke 0 David Silva's goal is the difference maker at the minute. Stoke are still in it, and you never know could pull one back. The second half is going to be interesting. 

45+1- Deep cross from Shaqiri bound for Jesse. It goes out for a goal-kick. 

45- One minute of extra time to be played. 

41- Delightful cross again from De Bruyne this time to the back post to Sane, his volley goes wide. 

39- The Stoke natives are getting restless. Plenty of jeers when City have the ball at the minute. Ball falls to Fernandinho, his shot is palmed away by Butland. 

36- Hello. Stoke go route one... flick on to Jesse who lofts the ball towards goal. Ederson quickly back-tracks and tips the ball over for a corner. 

33- Should have been 2-0! De Bruyne with a perfect delivery into the box. Gabriel Jesus & three other Man City players miss the header. So close. 

28- The battle between Shaqiri & Zinchenko is shaping up nicely. The winger wins a throw off the young Man City wing-back to the delight of the Stoke fans. 

25- Man City are at it! De Bruyne swings in a cross from the right. Stoke fail to clear and Fernandinho runs onto the loose ball. His shot goes well over the bar. 

23- Man City have the ball in the net. It doesn't count! Gabriel Jesus mistimes his run, and the linesman flags offside. Mane thumps the rebound into the net... No goal. 

20- Chance for Stoke! Shaqiri springs into life with a run down the wing, nut-megging Zinchenko. The Swiss star picks out Ndiaye but his shot rebounds out for a corner, which comes to nothing in the end.  

18- Sumptuous passing from City. Fernandinho misplaces a pass to Sane which goes out of play. A huge cheer from the Stoke fans. 

15- What can Stoke do now? Hope they can score on the break? They might need the ball for that to happen... 

9- 1-0 Man City! What a move from the Citizens. Gabriel Jesus picks out Sterling on the ring wing overlap. A pin-point pass to David Silva, who arrived perfectly on the penalty spot to thump the ball first-time past Jack Butland. Lovely. 

6- De Bruyne hits a short free-kick to Otamendi. Stoke clear the attempted shot

3- Long ball to Walker, skims out of play. The Stoke fans cheer. They are going to make this interesting tonight. 

Peep! Stoke get us underway! 

Preamble 

The teams are out! Can Man City do it on a cold and rainy night in Stoke? We will find out in 90 minutes time. 

Minutes away from the action at Stoke! Quick reminder, you can watch all the action on beIN SPORTS CONNECT. 

Jese starts as striker for Stoke tonight. I seem to remember him scoring a winner against Arsenal at the start of the season. Imagine if he did that again!? Scenes! 

A first start since October for @JeseRodriguez10 💪#SCFC 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/eIDwH8W8WT — Stoke City FC (@stokecity) March 12, 2018

Man City have also arrived, in GIF form! 

#MondayMotivaton 💪 #scfcvcity pic.twitter.com/J6K6Dbqv7W — Manchester City (@ManCity) March 12, 2018

WE HAVE CITY TEAM NEWS As expected Jesus slots in to replace Aguero up front. 

How we line-up tonight!

City XI | Ederson, Walker, Kompany (C), Otamendi, Zinchenko, Fernandinho, Silva, De Bruyne, Sterling, Sane, Jesus

Subs | Bravo, Danilo, Stones, Gundogan, Laporte, Bernardo, Yaya Toure

Presented by @HAYSWorldwide #scfcvcity #mancity pic.twitter.com/niKExUKO9R — Manchester City (@ManCity) March 12, 2018

TEAM NEWS KLAXON! Yep! We have team news! First up Stoke! 

📝 One change for the Potters against @ManCity this evening as @JeseRodriguez10 replaces @MameDiouf99.

STARTING XI: Butland; Bauer, Zouma, M. Indi, Stafylidis; Badou, Cameron, Allen; Shaqiri, Jese, Choupo-Moting.#SCFC 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/E7ngnPmI9t — Stoke City FC (@stokecity) March 12, 2018

A more artsy vibe from the Stoke social media team. More importantly, we should get the team news in the next 15 minutes! (10pm Mecca) 

UNDER
THE
LIGHTS!

📝 Team news coming up at 7pm#SCFC 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/Fn08EMfjoh — Stoke City FC (@stokecity) March 12, 2018

Stoke is looking quite grey. Man City's social media bringing the hype before Kick-off which is an hour and a bit away. 

MONDAY
NIGHT
FOOTBALL#scfcvcity #mancity pic.twitter.com/H7M2zMbyf5 — Manchester City (@ManCity) March 12, 2018

Hello! Welcome to the live updates for Stoke City Vs Manchester City in the Premier League. The equation is simple for Man City, another victory tonight will take them closer to sealing the Premier League title. Whilst Stoke are in desperate need of points to bolster their survival bid. The Potters are currently in the relegation points, and know that a shock win would pull them out of trouble. Anyway, if Live Updates ain't your thing... you can follow the game via  beIN SPORTS CONNECT.

Preview 

Manchester City will be targeting another victory to ensure their status as league champions when they head to relegation-threatened Stoke City on Monday evening. As ever you can watch all of the action via beIN SPORTS CONNECT. 

An unlikely victory for Stoke will see The Potters pull themselves out of the relegation zone, although history is not on Paul Lambert’s side against City. Their last victory over the Citizens came in December 2015, thanks to a brace from Marko Arnautović.

 Stoke have been solid, under Lambert’s tenure, but have lacked firepower in front of goal. Three consecutive draws suggest that the Midlands side has got what it takes to beat the drop, however, a result against an all-conquering city side who are gunning for the league title looks unlikely. 

In team news, Stoke will be without Mame Diouf who is absent with a shoulder complaint. Whilst both Kevin Wimmer & Saido Berhino who have been on programmes to aid their fitness could return to the match-day squad.

Speaking ahead of the game, Lambert stressed that his side has a chance of pulling off an upset against the champions-elect. "On any given day you can win a game of football. In a one-off game, you can win, and that is the beauty of football. We'll do everything we can to try to win.”

Man City will be without striker Sergio Aguero who missed training with a knee injury and could be without the clubs all-time leading scorer for two weeks. It’s a shame considering Aguero’s record against Stoke had been impressive, scoring eight goals in his eight league appearances against The Potters. 

Thankfully for City, they have a ready-made replacement in Gabriel Jesus who recently returned from injury, and is likely to lead the line for the Citizens. 

Pep Guardiola’s side comfortably won the fixture at the Etihad 7-2 in October and despite the 13 point lead at the top of the table, the Spanish coach is not proclaiming his side as champions just yet. "It's almost done. But we are not the champions. The champions are still Chelsea. We have to get the points as soon as possible, knowing that we have the opportunity. 

"I know everyone wants to anticipate the situation and what will happen, everyone is thinking about when we will win the title. Nobody thought we could lose against Basel and we lost against Basel. We need to be relaxed, stay calm and think about Stoke City.”

It certainly promises to be an interesting game when champions elect Man City takes on relegation-threatened Stoke. You can watch all the action on beIN SPORTS CONNECT.