When the news first broke suggesting that Steven N’Zonzi was set for a £7m Sevilla move in the summer of 2015, it was met with both surprise and an air of inevitability. Inevitable in the sense that, several big clubs in Europe had a growing interest in the midfielder. After all, he quickly garnered a reputation as being amongst the best midfielders on the planet. So, three years have passed and once again, speculation surrounds N’Zonzi’s future. Why though?
With only nine goals and three assists in the Premier League this term, questions continue to surround Marko Arnautovic’s quality – is he really that good?
Mark Hughes was announced as Southampton’s new manager last week. The 54-year-old hit the ground running with a 2-0 FA Cup quarterfinal win over Wigan. The Saints are into the semi-finals for the first time since 2003.
After successive victories over Manchester United and Southampton, Arsenal will travel to the Britannia with renewed confidence that an unlikely top-four place can still be secure this season.
After an impressive display against West Ham last weekend, it came as a surprise to me that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain didn’t start against Basel in midweek.
Following his impressive display against Sunderland last time out, Jack Wilshere continued where he left off with another standout playmaking performance as Bournemouth narrowly prevailed away against Stoke on Saturday.
Goals from Fernandinho, Agüero from the penalty spot, as well as a well-taken double from talented youngster Kelechi Iheanacho helped Citizens to a welcome victory in the lunchtime kick-off.
City in control as Potters ship four once more
Manchester City‘s aims of finishing the 2015/16 campaign strongly were given a welcome boost after their surprising away draw with Rafa Benitez‘ Newcastle side in midweek – as they comprehensively saw off the challenge of Stoke City at home in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off at the Ethiad.
The visitors were held to a hard-fought draw against tough opposition – courtesy of excellent goalkeeping from both sides of the pitch.
It was the tale of two top quality goalkeepers as Jack Butland and Petr Cech did well when called upon to earn hard-fought clean sheets at the Britannia.
The visitors started well, but always knew it’d be a tough test to break down Stoke’s robust defence. With the likes of Ryan Shawcross and Phillip Wollscheid marshaling the backline, Arséne Wenger‘s men looked to play through their opponents – easier said than done.
A first-half double from Marko Arnautović – both created by Xherdan Shaqiri, helped the Potters seal a well-earned victory against the Premier League leaders; who started slowly and were sluggish all afternoon.
Manchester City aimed for maximum points on a tough trip to the Britannia in the Premier League‘s opening fixture of the weekend. A first-half brace from Marko Arnautović fired Stoke City to a well-deserved victory, as they took advantage of the League leaders’ slow start with counter-attacking brilliance throughout on a windy afternoon in Staffordshire.
Early team news
City had a few injury concerns to contend with – Sergio Agüero (ankle) was a doubt, and consequently, not risked. However, they were boosted by the returns of crucial creative midfielder David Silva (ankle) and first-choice goalkeeper Joe Hart (hamstring) in the starting XI.
Unsurprisingly given his unfortunate injury history, Fabian Delph was left on the substitutes’ bench with the Brazilian duo of Fernando and Fernandinho the two holding midfielders ahead of the backline.
Potters start fast, City sluggish
Manchester City held the majority of possession in the first-half, but were unable to grab a few goals to justify their spells on the ball. Their hosts, on the other hand, started brightly and always looked a dangerous threat on the counter-attack.
Xherdan Shaqiri and Marko Arnautović’s link-up play was a joy to behold in the final third; between the two forwards, they were easing their way towards Joe Hart’s area with seeming ease every time.
Fernando struggled to contain the threat on his side of midfield, whilst the opening goal epitomised Stoke’s threat on the break. Shaqiri danced past three players before cutting the ball back into the area for Arnautović – who fired home from close range past a helpless Hart with the goal gaping at the Austrian’s mercy.
Arnautovic (pictured) celebrates as Stoke break the deadlock in style | Photo: Getty
Kevin de Bruyne came close to levelling the scoring at the other end, but for a smart stop from Jack Butland – merely stinging the goalkeeper’s gloves in the face of potential pressure on his goal.
Stoke drive forward with pace and purpose
Then, Stoke grew in confidence. Shaqiri continued his playmaking exploits and created another excellent assist, spotting Arnautović’s run to perfection.
The former Inter Milan maverick was gifted another opportunity to score, and he was never going to miss from that range – tapping home with Hart unable to close down the angles quickly enough. Arnautovic could, and should, have grabbed a hat-trick, but the post denied him after more good work in-and-around the box.
City had chances, which were overshadowed by Bojan’s magic
de Bruyne was, unsurprisingly, City’s focal point in attack, but was unable to find teammates in space to pass to. David Silva’s effectiveness was relatively snuffed out as Stoke ensured they had marked him tightly in 50-50 duels, and Wilfried Bony was isolated up-top with virtually no service to test Butland from.
Bojan Krkic was certainly enjoying himself too, as he always went on a dribble forward with the ball at his feet. City’s defenders struggled to get near him, and he was left to create magic in midfield with the home supporters left in awe.
Silva combined well with Raheem Sterling on the left, and the young Englishman, who turns 21 next week, found fullback Aleksandar Kolarov rushing down the flank in space.
The Serbian latched onto Sterling’s well-weighted pass, and let fly with a powerful strike goalwards. Unfortunately for him though, Butland was equal to the effort and the danger was averted.
It could have been more than a two-goal cushion going into the half-time interval, everyone knew.
Surprising decision by Pellegrini
A big surprise as the second-half began though, was that Manuel Pellegrini kept the team the same. No substitutions, as the Chilean possibly felt his side couldn’t perform in the same vein, especially as they were losing and had to chase the game for goals.
Nicolas Otámendi was brandished the first and only yellow card of the match after 50 minutes, for a cynical kick on Shaqiri – who made him look silly with a few cheeky drag backs.
Pellegrini’s patience was wearing thin, and after 55 minutes, he made a double substitution in an attempt to change things. Fernandinho and Bony were brought off – in place of Delph and Kelechi Iheanacho in like-for-like swaps, whilst Sterling operated in a more attacking role to partner the young Nigerian who’d just been introduced to the fray.
Bojan’s cheeky backflick fell perfectly for Arnautovic in the area, and despite having the chance to go for goal himself, the Austrian unselfishly squared the ball towards the path of Shaqiri. Somehow though, Shaqiri was unable to get proper contact on the ball, which trickled out for a goal-kick.
Standing ovations and worse news for visitors
Stoke were on-fire and City looked helpless to stop them. Bojan was taken off to a standing ovation from the home supporters, as was Shaqiri with the clock ticking down on the affair, but things were about to go from bad to worse for the sky Blues.
Fernando pulled his hamstring with 15 minutes to play and was unable to continue as a result, as Jesús Navas was introduced in place of Silva prior to the Brazilian’s injury, meaning City had no more substitutions to choose from. That, quite literally, typified the problems that the visitors were facing. Ironically, the 10-men of City looked more convincing in possession than they did with eleven. A poor showing, and questions will relentlessly be asked of Pellegrini’s man-management, simply due to the manner of their defeat today. A very bad day at the office.
Leicester City, as well as Manchester United and Arsenal, all have the opportunity to leapfrog the Citizens in the table – after this disappointing result. Their third defeat in their previous five fixtures (all competitions), not exactly the type of display you’d expect from a side challenging for the league title.
As for the hosts, Mark Hughes will be understandably delighted with his team’s collective performance, where they made the League leaders look ordinary for large parts of the game. They’ve moved up into 9th place with the rest of this weekend’s action still to play, and they’ll be confidently hoping they can cement themselves in the top eight if performances like this one, are anything to go by.
Bojan’s 10th minute opener was all the visitors needed to halt Southampton’s unbeaten run – in an effective away display at St. Mary’s.
Southampton‘s unbeaten run of eleven matches across all competitions, was ended by Mark Hughes‘ Stoke City side – who were defensively disclipined and constantly provided a counter-attacking threat in the final third.
Bojan Krkić scored the game’s only goal after just ten minutes, but it could have been more from the visitors after an early start to proceedings.
Intriguing start in opening exchanges
Before the opener, Dušan Tadić was unlucky to see his effort narrowly flash wide of Jack Butland‘s far post. A goalmouth scramble ensued in the box as Stoke struggled to clear their lines, and the Serbian creative midfielder pounced on the danger but was unable to break the deadlock.
The build-up to the goal itself was well worked by Stoke in fairness to them, after Xherdan Shaqiri got on the ball from the right-hand side, drove towards the edge of the box and pulled two defenders out of position to try and contain his threat.
Stoke catch Saints on the break
The ball was quickly shifted towards the left, with Erik Pieters swinging in a teasing ball into the area itself. Jose Fonté was caught static and Bojan made the Portuguese centre-back pay with a clinical flick on, giving goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg no chance.
Shaqiri almost made it two in six minutes, but for a good reaction stop by Stekelenburg. Marko Arnautovic‘s long-ball forward found Bojan, who slipped through an inviting ball towards Shaqiri. His low effort seemed destined for the bottom corner, but Stekelenburg had other ideas and parried the danger.
Potters picked their moments to get forward
Chances came at a premium for the rest of the first-half, with Southampton defensively looking vulnerable when trying to deal with the counter-attack.
Tadić fired over the crossbar before the interval, then defensive midfielder Victor Wanyama saw his effort flash narrowly wide as the second 45 began and the hosts went in search of an equaliser.
Possession battle: Wanyama and Shaqiri tussle for possession in midfield | Picture: Getty Images
Ironic jeers reverberated around the stadium when Arnautovic fired high and wide with a golden opportunity to make it two, with only the goalkeeper to beat. But you could definitely tell that the home supporters were getting edgy, as they had to make the most of their half-chances.
With time ticking down on the affair, Graziano Pellé was unlucky not to be awarded a penalty-kick after a high foot from Philipp Wollscheid – who missed the ball completely – was waved play on somehow by the referee. After this, you could tell it wasn’t going to be Southampton’s day.
Ibrahim Afellay came close to sealing the three points, and although it was a narrow victory, it was a deserved one too for the visitors. They started brightly, hit Southampton on the counter-attack and Ronald Koeman‘s men struggled to get going in the early exchanges.
As a consequence, The Saints‘ unbeaten run has been ended AND they miss out on the chance to leapfrog Everton, West Ham and Tottenham into fifth place – whilst Stoke move up to 11th after an effective away display, even though they should have scored a few more of their chances.
Mo and Sports 