Source: Daily_Mail
Stoke 1 Man City 0: Spineless and miserable as City struggle
If Senhor Kaka has ever experienced a moment's doubt about rejecting the wealth of Manchester for the glory of Milan, then this was the match to set his mind at rest.[LNB]There are defeats, there are damaging defeats and there are spineless concessions. And in the bitter chill of the Potteries, on a day that cried out for courage, Manchester City[LNB]'s casual acceptance of their fate was abjectly humiliating.[LNB]Stoke[LNB]greeted their triumph with the raucous relief of players who had achieved something far beyond expectation. As indeed they had.[LNB]After losing Rory Delap in an eruption of temper in the 38th minute, their 10 men seized the lead through James Beattie in the dying seconds of the first half and defended it - improbably and quite magnificently - to the death.[LNB] Glove affair: Manchester City's Robinho gestures during the clash with Stoke [LNB] Stoke v Man City: How the game unfolded[LNB]STOKE NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WEB[LNB]MAN CITY NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WEB[LNB]Hull 2 West Brom 2[LNB]Arsenal 0 West Ham 0[LNB]Aston Villa 0 Wigan 0[LNB]Bolton 3 Tottenham 2[LNB]Fulham 3 Portsmouth 1[LNB]Middlesbrough 0 Blackburn 0[LNB][LNB]Yet while they had earned their celebrations, along with the measure of relief which victory brought, they seemed genuinely bewildered by the shoulder-shrugging inadequacy of their opposition. [LNB]While there are grounds for believing that Mark Hughes had not wholeheartedly approved of the recent spending spree - £90million in transfers and wages and counting - it is inevitable that the fees will be waved in the manager's face. Yesterday, he was hard-pushed to defend them.[LNB]Nigel De Jong (£14m) was sturdily diligent, although plainly short of match fitness. He was withdrawn in the 72nd minute after exerting only a marginal influence on affairs.[LNB]Wayne Bridge (£12m) was still more marginal. Craig Bellamy was living proof of how little you get for £14m these days. And then there was Robinho. While his ability is unquestioned, there always lurked the suspicion that too often he would sell himself short.[LNB] Pain game: Amdy Faye lies injured following a clash of heads[LNB]Yesterday, he was a disgracefully peripheral figure; playing the easy pass, shirking the difficult option, generally performing like a man who has weightier matters on his mind.[LNB] There was a moment in the second half when he found a yard of space on the fringe of the area, flipped the ball over a defender, then struck his volley perhaps 15 yards high. The crowd hugged itself in gleeful derision.[LNB]Robinho just frowned. It is an easy jibe, of course, but for £32m we expect a good deal more.[LNB]So City's recent acquisitions underperformed quite miserably, but the older hands were equally vapid. Micah Richards seems to have travelled backwards at a distressing pace. [LNB]A young man who once seemed capable of anything, he is delivering precious little. And then there is Shaun Wright- Phillips. It was he who ignited the situation which claimed Delap.[LNB][LNB] Off day: Stoke's Rory Delap (No24) is sent off by referee Martin Atkinson[LNB]Lunging recklessly at Matthew Etherington, he escaped punishment from the referee Martin Atkinson. Delap, enraged, inflicted his own retribution with a couple of crude hacks at Wright-Phillips, then lashed the ball at the fallen City player. Players came piling in, even the famously equable Bellamy joined the argument.[LNB]And when order was restored, Delap was awarded a red card while Wright-Phillips escaped unpunished. Stoke's fans were recently named the loudest in the Premier League, and their anger battered the eardrums for the rest of the half. And yet, as the last of five added minutes to the first half came to a close, that anger was replaced by a kind of ecstacy.[LNB]It was a fine goal to celebrate, with Danny Pugh working hard down the left wing and playing Etherington into space. He floated a deep cross, and there was Beattie leaping, hovering and thumping a fine header inside the post amid gleeful pandemonium.[LNB][LNB] Head boy: James Beattie scores the winning goal[LNB] [LNB]Even then, the odds were heavily against Stoke surviving an entire half with their numerical disadvantage. But they set to work staunchly, intelligently, with ferocious concentration and application.[LNB]Space was closed down, men were picked up, the hard yards were covered, the brave tackles were made. It was a textbook lesson in organised resistance, and the neutrals at the Britannia Stadium were willing the effort to succeed.[LNB]City's shuffling indifference made the prospect of that success increasingly likely.[LNB]There was a moment, three minutes from time, when Richards' run into the area was halted by an anxious tackle from the Stoke substitute Andy Griffin. 'A blatant penalty kick,' declared Hughes, with the air of a man grabbing at thin straws.[LNB][LNB] Making a point: City's new striker Craig Bellamy[LNB]Elano complained with particular vehemence at that decision. Having contributed nothing to his club's cause since arriving in the 55th minute, his flapping arms were intended to remind us that he really had turned up.[LNB]But it was all for nothing. Both Stoke and Manchester City had been given exactly what they deserved. The strains of Blue Moon had long since evaporated at the visitors' end, and now they were replaced with a kitsch classic: 'Happiness, happiness, the greatest gift that I possess,' trilled Ken Dodd, and more than 20,000 Stoke loyalists bellowed out the chorus.[LNB]It was a peculiarly English football moment. Kaka would have hated it.[LNB] Stoke v Man City: How the game unfolded[LNB]STOKE NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WEB[LNB]MAN CITY NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WEB[LNB]Hull 2 West Brom 2[LNB]Arsenal 0 West Ham 0[LNB]Aston Villa 0 Wigan 0[LNB]Bolton 3 Tottenham 2[LNB]Fulham 3 Portsmouth 1[LNB]Middlesbrough 0 Blackburn 0[LNB][LNB] [LNB]
