Manchester City Rebound in League Play, Top Stoke

 1-0 

Manchester City certainly needed a win following the truly disappointing loss to Barcelona in the Champions League midweek.  Today Man. City hosted Stoke City for a Premier League game that was favorable for Machester to bounce back.

Edin Dzeko and Álvaro Negredo started in the attack with David Silva and Nasri occupying the wings for Manchester.  Peter Crouch was the lone striker for Stoke with Charlie Adam and Peter Odemwingie as his main support.

Neither side scored in the first-half, though both were able to test the opposite keeper.  Manchester City had far and away the majority of possession (over seventy percent) and created more shots on target.  Stoke were forced to defend for most of the match and they fended off the home side's attack well for a long time.

Eventually the persistent attack from Manchester City paid off and the dead-lock was broken.  Rightback Aleksander Kolarov fired a low cross into the box that Yaya Toure was able to redirect towards goal.  Stoke keeper Begovic got a hand to the shot, but could not turn it away from his goal and the ball found the net (70').

Stoke City could not create an equalizer in the time remaining as Manchester held on for the win.  Though the margin of victory was slim today, the win was the right kind of response from Manchester City.  Chelsea and Arsenal also won league matches today meaning there was no change at the top of the table.

Stoke City Beat Struggling Manchester United

 2-1 

It was a wet and windy day at the Britannia Stadium as Manchester United came in to play Stoke City.  United have not been up to standard and Stoke were keen to take advantage of that slump.  Manchester United had a dreadful first-half and by the end of it the Red Devils were down a goal and down both centerbacks.

After only ten minutes Jonny Evans was forced to come out with a lower leg injury and Rafael entered the match.  Starting rightback Chris Smalling moved inside next to Phil Jones to make room for Rafael. Before United could settle into this new formation Stoke scored to take the lead.  Charlie Adam scored from a long free-kick shot that took a lucky deflection off Michael Carrick (38').

Then, near the end of the first-half, Phil Jones came down hard trying to win a header.  Jones hit his head as he came down and a stretcher was required to get him to the sideline.  Manager David Moyes made an interesting decision with his next substitution and brought on Welbeck in place of the defender.  This forced Carrick to drop into centerback and Rooney to drop into midfield asWelbeck took the other forward position next to Van Persie.

Half-time seemed like a blessing for United as they made adjustments to their shuffled line-up.  As the second-half started United showed signes of improvement and Van Persie helped level the score.  Juan Mata played the striker in-on-goal and Van Persie scored with a half-volley to equalize (47').

However, moments later Stoke regained the lead when Adam scored a second goal following some more good luck.  Winger Marco Arnautović misfired on his shot attempt and the ball rolled right in front of Adam who smashed it home (52').

Manchester fought to get a second goal with Rooney, Van Persie, Welbeck, and Hernandez all getting action today.  Stoke held on though to get a rare win against the Red Devils.  Next week Stoke travel to Southampton and United host Fulham in Premier League play.

Suarez and Sturridge Lift Liverpool Over Stoke City

 3-5 

Stoke City hosted Liverpool in a Sunday afternoon Premier League match-up that turned into an exciting shootout.  Liverpool are beginning to get some players back from injuries, most notably Steven Gerrard in the starting eleven and Daniel Sturridge first off the bench today.  Stoke featured a few former Liverpool players with Peter Crouch at forward and Charlie Adam behind him in midfield.

Liverpool caught a rather lucky break in the early moments of the game to take the lead.  Defender Cissokho stepped into a shot from 25 yards out with a half-volley.  The shot was heading wide, but Stoke captain Ryan Shawcross was in the ball's path and sent it into his own net off the deflection (5').

Liverpool then extended their lead following some sloppy Stoke defending.  A long ball forward by Martin Skrtel could have been cleared by defender Marc Wilson, but he instead chose to head the ball back to his keeper.  The pass was short and Luis Suarez was lurking in the area.  Shawcross came over to clear, but he ended up just getting in the way of the keeper and Suarez got a free shot for the second goal (32').

Stoke were persistant and got a ton of crosses into the box both from play and set-pieces.  Late in the first-half that persistance paid off and Crouch got his team back in the match.  Winger Arnautović delivered the cross to Crouch who finished with a near-post header (39').  Then right before half-time Stoke equalized with a scorching shot from Charlie Adam.  Henderson gave it away for Liverpool and Adam had a free shot from the edge of the box that found the net (45').

Liverpool were not shaken by losing the lead and came out in the second-half will the same confidence they had in the first-half.  Raheem Sterling won a penalty for Liverpool when he made a break in the Stoke box.  Defender Wilson bumped him to draw the foul and Gerrard finished from the spot (51').  Now back in front, Liverpool decided to bring in Daniel Sturridge who has been out injured for some time.  Sturridge did very well in his return and in the time he was on the field he got an assist and a goal.

Sturridge setup Suarez when his run attracted two defenders leaving Suarez unmarked.  Sturridge picked Suarez out with a simple pass and the striker finished his second of the day (71').  Stoke hung around and scored one more goal to close the gap back down to one.  Jonathan Walters found space in front of goal and shook centerback Kolo Touré before beating the keeper (85').

Liverpool did not let Stoke get further back into the game and scored a final goal to ensure the win.  Sturridge got two chances to score and finished the second.  A cross from Suarez gave him a chance at the far-post, but keeper Butland denied Sturridge.  The block was kept in play though, and Sturridge finished the second chance effort (87').

With this win Liverpool move back into the top-four.  The last few matches were tough for the Red as they lost points to Chelsea and Manchester City.  With Gerrard and Sturridge back in the line-up, Liverpool are far more formidable and have a chance to climb further up the table.  Stoke travel to Crystal Palace for their next league match while Liverpool host Aston Villa.

EPL Back, Liverpool Start with Win

1-0

The English Premier League is back and to kick off the season Liverpool hosted Stoke City.  Liverpool featured several of their new players including Spanish forward Iago Aspas, defender Kolo Touré, and keeper Simon Mignolet.  Still no Suarez for the Reds though as his suspension continues.

Early in the match Robert Huth nearly put Stoke ahead, but his shot was denied by the crossbar.  Similarly Kolo Touré hit the crossbar with his header at the other end moments later.  Liverpool created more chances in the first-half and it was Daniel Sturridge who finally beat the keeper.  From just outside the box, Sturridge blasted his shot through the legs of defender Huth and out of the reach of keeper Begović to score (37').

The goal from Sturridge was the only score of the match, though Stoke had a golden opportunity to equalize.  Defender Agger was called for a handball inside the Liverpool box to concede a penalty.  Walters took the penalty shot for Stoke but keeper Mignolet came up big and denied the goal.

While Begović was the loosing keeper today, he actually had a very good game as well.  The Stoke keeper made 10 saves over the course of the match and kept his team in contention.  He did not get any help at the other end however, and Liverpool win their opening day match.