City fail to fire in Stoke stalemate

AFP, MANCHESTER: Pep Guardiola saw his team squander the opportunity to gain ground on Premier League leaders Chelsea in a disappointing 0-0 draw with Stoke City at the Etihad on Wednesday.
It was a strangely subdued performance by City, the result perhaps of Guardiola having opted to rest David Silva and Raheem Sterling from his all-star cast of attacking talent.
But given the fact that City had the chance to close the gap to Chelsea to eight points and move above Tottenham into second place, Guardiola's players were well below their best.
In fact, the best chances of the first period fell to Stoke, led by former City manager Mark Hughes, who were looking to improve on a record of defeats in five of their last six away games.
They could have been well on the way to that target after just five minutes when Eirk Pieters crossed from the left wing and Gael Clichy slipped as he attempted to mark Mame Biram Diouf on the six-yard line.

City fail to fire in Stoke stalemate

AFP, MANCHESTER: Pep Guardiola saw his team squander the opportunity to gain ground on Premier League leaders Chelsea in a disappointing 0-0 draw with Stoke City at the Etihad on Wednesday. It was a strangely subdued performance by City, the result perhaps of Guardiola having opted to rest David Silva and Raheem Sterling from his all-star cast of attacking talent. But given the fact that City had the chance to close the gap to Chelsea to eight points and move above Tottenham into second place, Guardiolas players were well below their best. In fact, the best chances of the first period fell to Stoke, led by former City manager Mark Hughes, who were looking to improve on a record of defeats in five of their last six away games. They could have been well on the way to that target after just five minutes when Eirk Pieters crossed from the left wing and Gael Clichy slipped as he attempted to mark Mame Biram Diouf on the six-yard line.