Manchester City 2 Stoke City 0: match report

Roberto Mancini began life as Manchester City manager with three points as goals from Martin Petrov and Carlos Tevez secured victory against Stoke at Eastlands. At the end of a difficult week for the club, dominated by strong criticism of the manner of their sacking of former manager Mark Hughes, Mancini ensured that City ended a turbulent period on a high by guiding his new team to an important three points.  Related ArticlesPremier League tablePremier League actionTelegraph player raterPremier League fixturesTransfer TalkSport on televisionDue largely to strong pro-Hughes sentiments within the City dressing-room, Mancini will have to win round those players still angry at the Welshman's sacking. But the former Inter Milan coach delivered an early signal of his refusal to be dictated to by his squad by surprisingly starting with Robinho in favour of Craig Bellamy. Bellamy, having previously worked with Hughes with Wales and Blackburn before arriving at City in January, is understandably one of the former manager's biggest admirers. But he was forced to watch from the bench as Mancini's regime began with a comfortable, if unspectacular, victory against Stoke. Maybe as a result of Hughes's ruthless dismissal seven days ago, the Stoke fans taunted Mancini with chants of 'You're getting sacked in the morning!' as he was introduced to the home supporters. The pressure is clearly on Mancini to deliver a top four finish in order to satisfy the ambitions of owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan, so a debut victory was precisely what the Italian would have been hoping for. Stoke did not make it easy, however. The physical and uncomplicated approach of Tony Pulis's team certainly ruffled Robinho, who was subjected to a number of tough challenges from Stoke full-back Andy Wilkinson. But City's superior quality proved decisive, even if Stoke's second-half performance asked more questions of the home side's suspect back-four. It was Bulgarian winger Petrov who opened the scoring, however, with a far post strike on 28 minutes. Stephen Ireland's lay-off to Carlos Tevez in the centre-circle led to the Argentina carrying the ball 40 yards before his cross inside the penalty area was touched onto Petrov by Robinho. Petrov, usually a left-sided midfielder, arrived unmarked to finish with his right-foot. Robinho's lay-off was his only positive contribution. Considering he remains, at £32.5m, Britain's most expensive player, the Brazilian does little to justify his price tag. And intriguingly, when he was replaced by Bellamy on 70 minutes, Robinho waved to the crowd in a manner that suggested he was waving goodbye. With Barcelona constantly linked with the former Real Madrid player, it would be no surprise should Mancini decide that Robinho is surplus to requirements in January. City will not lack firepower without him, as Tevez proved by doubling City's lead two minutes into first-half stoppage time. The former Manchester United forward confirmed victory for Mancini by prodding the ball past goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen from close range after Gareth Barry had headed on Pablo Zabaleta's cross.

Source: Telegraph