Stoke 1 - Manchester City 4: Aguero's first goals since December give City easy win

After scoring only three in their previous five games to the dismay of manager Manuel Pellegrini, inset, City hit four to keep alive their title hopes with their first Premier League victory at the Britannia Stadium.

Sergio Aguero bagged a double, one of them a penalty –  his first goals in six appearances since returning from a month out with a knee ligament injury.

James Milner and Samir Nasri also got on the scoresheet as City stayed seven points adrift of leaders Chelsea with 13 games to go.

Peter Crouch had cancelled out Aguero’s first strike in a first half when Stoke were the better team but City looked much more like their old selves after the break when Milner’s header, Aguero’s penalty and Nasri’s solo goal wrapped up their most impressive win for a couple of months.

Games between these teams are traditionally dour low-scoring affairs but you never would have believed it the way a highly eventful first half panned out. City should have taken an early lead when David Silva broke clear and squared the ball but Aguero got in Fernandinho’s way and the Brazilian scuffed his shot straight at Asmir Begovic.

City were left regretting their wastefulness but Stoke made the most of that let-off to launch an attacking barrage that left City creaking, with Victor Moses seemingly making it a one-man crusade to get the better of goalkeeper Joe Hart.

A Moses snap shot almost caught Hart napping before the England keeper managed to smuggle the ball round the post. From the corner Stoke appealed for a penalty when Crouch’s goalbound header struck Milner’s arm on the line.

Referee Lee Mason waved away heated protests but it did not deter Stoke – or Moses – who sensed edgy City were there for the taking. They had the ball in the net when Hart fumbled another Moses shot and Crouch stabbed home the rebound – but the Potters’ celebrations were curtailed when he was flagged offside.

Then when the busy Hart parried Steven N’Zonzi’s fierce drive he was hugely relieved to see Moses’ firmly struck follow-up effort whistle just past the post.

Against the run of play City took the lead thanks to a superb solo goal from Aguero. He outmuscled Marc Muniesa to get to Milner’s clearance and gave  himself a clear run into the Stoke box before firing an angled shot past Begovic.

Stoke took only five minutes to draw level, however, with Crouch, so often a tormentor of City in the past, scoring with a trademark far-post header after Vincent Kompany had failed to cut out Marko Arnautovic’s deep cross from the right flank.

Fernando missed a simple close-range chance before Aguero looked to have put City back in front in first-half added time – only for a sharp-eyed linesman to spot that his last touch of the ball came with his hand after Silva had set him up. To add insult to injury the Argentina international was booked.