Manchester City showed their defence of the Premier League title isn’t over just yet as Sergio Aguero’s double inspired a 4-1 win at Stoke that kept the champions in touch with leaders Chelsea on Wednesday.
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A miserable run of five games without a win in the absence of key midfielder Yaya Toure, on African Cup of Nations duty with the Ivory Coast, had cast doubts over City’s ability to close the gap on Chelsea.
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But Aguero’s brace and strikes from James Milner and Samir Nasri gave City their first league win at Stoke in 16 years and kept Manuel Pellegrini’s second-placed side within seven points of Chelsea.
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The Britannia Stadium has not been a happy hunting ground for City and they knew almost instantly nothing would come easy as they were subjected to an early onslaught once Aguero had passed up an opportunity to give them the lead.
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The Argentina international had gone six games without a goal either side of a month out with a knee injury and again his deadly touch deserted him as he scuffed a shot from David Silva’s perfectly-weighted square pass.
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And that was the cue for Stoke to throw everything at the champions as they looked to complete an unlikely double following their win at Eastlands in August.
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City goalkeeper Joe Hart just about managed to scramble a Victor Moses shot around the post for a corner which Peter Crouch met with a header that was goalbound until it struck Milner.
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City lived dangerously again when Crouch then had the ball in the net but after Hart could only parry another Moses shot into his path, the former England international converted from an offside position.
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