NIGERIA WONDER-KID IS MAN OF THE MATCH IN ENGLAND

MAN.CITY/NIGERIA WONDER-KID:MAN OF THE MATCH

Manchester City 4-0 Stoke: Fernando, Sergio Aguero and Kelechi Iheanacho on target as hosts ease past Potters at the Etihad

• Manchester City return to third place in the Premier League with a comfortable victory over Stoke City
• Fernando heads City into the lead in the 35th minute from Jesus Navas' corner after a low-key start to the game 
• Sergio Aguero doubles home side's advantage from the penalty spot after Ryan Shawcross fouls Kelechi Iheanacho
• Iheanacho turns goalscorer 20 minutes into the second period, side-footing home Pablo Zabaleta's cross 
• Nigerian collects Wilfried Bony's pass to round goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard and stroke home City's fourth 

Stoke could actually have scored first as Ryan Shawcross scuffed wide from a good position, and then the disappointing Joselu planted a free header over from Arnautovic's cross.

But City never looked back after Fernando put them in front in the 35th minute with only his second goal of the season.

The Brazilian lost his marker Geoff Cameron as he ran to the near post to meet a corner from Jesus Navas and glance a header just inside Given's right-hand post.

Aguero doubled the lead from the penalty spot eight minutes later after referee Robert Madley spotted Shawcross clearly wrapping an arm around Kelechi Iheanacho's chest as the youngster tried to get on the end of a one-two with Yaya Toure in the box.

Given guessed the right way but could not keep out Aguero's spot-kick as the Argentine moved to within one goal of Harry Kane and one ahead of Jamie Vardy in the Premier League scoring charts.

His absence from the PFA awards shortlists continues to be a mystery.

Stoke briefly threatened a comeback when Joselu spurned another good opportunity created for him by Arnautovic, who then robbed Pablo Zabaleta to force a smart save from Joe Hart.

City killed the game off with two goals in 11 minutes from the impressive Kelechi Iheanacho.

The first was a straightforward finish past Stoke's replacement goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard from 10 yards after Zabaleta had overlapped on the right and squared the ball to his young teammate.

The second needed a little more work as Iheanacho latched onto a clever pass from substitute Wilfried Bony on the halfway line and burst clear of Philipp Wollscheid before rounding Haugaard to score his 11th goal of the season.

MATCH STATS, PLAYER RATING

Manchester City (4-4-2): Hart 7; Zabaleta 6.5, Mangala 6.5, Otamendi 7, Kolarov 6; Navas 7, Toure 6.5, Fernando 7 (Demichelis 72, 6), Silva 6.5 (Delph 57, 6.5); Iheanacho 8, Aguero 7 (Bony 65, 6.5) 

Subs not used: Caballero, Clichy, De Bruyne, Sterling 

Goals: Fernando 35, Aguero pen 43, Iheanacho 64, 74

Manager: Manuel Pellegrini

Stoke (4-2-3-1): Given 5.5 (Haugaard 46, 5); Bardsley 6, Shawcross 5, Wollscheid 5, Muniesa 5.5; Whelan 6, Cameron 5.5; Diouf 6, Imbula 6.5, Arnautovic 7 (Adam 76, 6); Joselu 4.5

Subs not used: Teixeira, Crouch, Bojan, Choulay, Shenton  

Manager: Mark Hughes 

Star man: Kelechi Iheanacho

Referee: Robert Madley 7