Manchester City go in to their Champions League semi-final tie against Real Madrid with a convincing 4-0 win over Stoke City. Coming in to the match tonight, Manuel Pellegrini’s team selection was a big talking point and the Chilean opted to start with Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Yaya Toure.
City were in a hurry to close the game out and Fernando opened the scoring on 35′ minute mark. Aguero threatened to take the game away from Stoke but he was denied by Shay Given. However, the Argentine striker was on the scoresheet after he netted a penalty two minutes from half-time.
Second half was more of a stroll in the park for Man City who doubled their lead through Kelechi Iheanacho within a space of 10 minutes. The young striker scored his 11th goal of the season and has continued to push for a more regular place in the lineup.
On the wake of City’s convincing 4-0 win over Stoke, we take a look at key talking points and things learned from the game at Etihad.
Real Madrid should be wary of Man City
At home, Manchester City have been putting teams to sword. While Real Madrid will be a different level of opposition, they cannot take the Premier League team lightly. City are capable of scoring goals and they will test Madrid’s defense to the limits.
Pellegrini’s squad rotation worked perfectly
Manuel Pellegrini got his wish of resting Vincent Kompany and Kevin De Bruyne while he only had to use Aguero and Silva for best part of an hour. City will have their best players fit and available for the game against Real Madrid which promises to be quite a spectacle.
Stoke are in a free fall
Mark Hughes has seen his team lose their last three games and concede 4 goals in each of those matches. They have gone out of form at the very wrong time and will do well to finish in top half of the table. Which is said because not long ago, they were fighting for a place in European football.
Kelechi Iheanacho will tempt Pep Guardiola
The 19-year old striker has now scored 11 goals this season and by all means has looked the kind of player any manager would like to have in the team, even Pep Guardiola. Former Barcelona man is coming to City in the summer and he will have to make a call on how frequent will Iheanacho start next season?
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