Manchester City ends weekend on a high

Roberto Mancini couldn’t have asked for more when he signed to become the manager of Manchester City. Manchester City’s win on Saturday helped the manager make an impact on his very first outing. Manchester city fans have already given him the title of the perfect replacement for Mark Hughes.

Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Stoke City was largely possible to the sheer brilliance of Carlos Tevez and Martin Petrov. These two almost single handedly demolished Stoke City with tow amazing first half goals.

But Mancini also must acknowledge the effort of his goalkeeper Shay Given. He managed to deny Tuncay first when either side were yet to open their account. His second moment of glory came when he blocked a fierce attempt of James Beattie. As a result Manchester City is now ensured of a place amongst the top six teams in the league.

One cannot overlook the accidental role played by Robinho in helping Petrov score the first goal of the match.

Although Petrov scored the opener he also failed to convert a number of half chances. In fact the real star of the match according to some was Tevez. Therefore it was only appropriate that he was rewarded with a goal that really made it an one-sided affair. The aerial skills of James Beattie alos deserves special mention as he was the reaon behind creating many a half chances. All said and done Mancini needs to be careful in future as goal keeping continues to be the weak link of the team.

The biggest highlight of the match was the replacement of an expensive a player like Robinho with Craig Bellamy. The Welshman who was gleefully greeted by the home crowd almost won a penalty for his team when he was roughly challenged inside the penalty by Robert Huth. Unfortunately referee Lee Mason though otherwise and urged to continue the game.