Stoke 1 Manchester City 1
thesun
ROBERTO MANCINI must be sick of the sight of Peter Crouch by now.
Last season, the former England striker scored one of the goals of the season to peg back Citys Premier League title charge.
And Crouch was on target again with Mancinis side stuttering once more as they prepare to begin their Champions League campaign against Real Madrid on Tuesday.
This time, though, 6ft 7in Crouchs goal will not be in line to win any prizes.
His physique often gets him compared to Rodney Trotter and this goal was definitely more the Hand of Rod, than the Hand of God.
England reject Crouch looked to have handled the ball as many as three times before netting a bizarre 15th-minute goal.
So convinced were City that ref Mark Clattenburg should have given a free-kick that they stopped long before Crouch finally scored.
But the goal stood to leave Mancini wondering if he was at a basketball game by mistake.
And City needed £16million new midfielder Javi Garcia to earn a point 20 minutes later
He marked his debut with an excellent header after being left unmarked as Stokes defence switched off.
And while unbeaten City could twice have won it in a frantic finish, Jose Mourinhos scouts will have flown home with an air of quiet confidence.
The Special Ones old Inter Milan bad boy Mario Balotelli returned after eye surgery.
But he had an ineffective game although he went down in a heap after claiming he was elbowed by Andy Wilkinson.
The men from Madrid may well have been puzzled by Mancinis decision to sub Carlos Tevez just after the hour.
Tevez had been influential and made Citys equaliser but Mancinis decision to bring on midfielder Gareth Barry in his place looked a questionable one.
Last season, the former England striker scored one of the goals of the season to peg back Citys Premier League title charge.
And Crouch was on target again with Mancinis side stuttering once more as they prepare to begin their Champions League campaign against Real Madrid on Tuesday.
This time, though, 6ft 7in Crouchs goal will not be in line to win any prizes.
His physique often gets him compared to Rodney Trotter and this goal was definitely more the Hand of Rod, than the Hand of God.
England reject Crouch looked to have handled the ball as many as three times before netting a bizarre 15th-minute goal.
So convinced were City that ref Mark Clattenburg should have given a free-kick that they stopped long before Crouch finally scored.
But the goal stood to leave Mancini wondering if he was at a basketball game by mistake.
And City needed £16million new midfielder Javi Garcia to earn a point 20 minutes later
He marked his debut with an excellent header after being left unmarked as Stokes defence switched off.
And while unbeaten City could twice have won it in a frantic finish, Jose Mourinhos scouts will have flown home with an air of quiet confidence.
The Special Ones old Inter Milan bad boy Mario Balotelli returned after eye surgery.
But he had an ineffective game although he went down in a heap after claiming he was elbowed by Andy Wilkinson.
The men from Madrid may well have been puzzled by Mancinis decision to sub Carlos Tevez just after the hour.
Tevez had been influential and made Citys equaliser but Mancinis decision to bring on midfielder Gareth Barry in his place looked a questionable one.
