FA Cup preview: Manchester City v Stoke City

City begin a double-header against Stoke hoping to progress in the FA Cup and push the Carling Cup defeat by United further into the distance. Tony Pulis’ side will be no pushovers after defeating Arsenal in the previous round, and the match promises to be more of a full-blooded spectacle than our last two league games at Eastlands.

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Verdict: Manchester City 2 Bolton Wanderers 0

City emerged with three points thanks to moments of brilliance from Adam Johnson and Emmanual Adebayor, along with a defensive mindset that achieved a clean sheet. Like the previous two games it was far from pretty as this time Roberto Mancini sought to shore up the midfield with de Jong, Barry and Vieira.

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Player ratings: Manchester City v Bolton Wanderers

Given – Clearly under instructions to try and play the ball out to defenders, and not to be concerned about initiating attacks with a quick throw. The result was a few a sloppy clearances from the normally reliable Shay. 6

Zabaleta – A big improvement on his performance at Hull, where the broken nose must have affected his preparation. Very strong defensively and needed to be against Wilshere. 7

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