Manchester City failed to climb above Tottenham in to second place in the league after a frustratingWednesdaynight against a resilient Stoke side at theEtihad.
With Raheem Sterling rested, Man City were hoping that Spanish winger Jesus Navas could be a more than suitable replacement for the English youngster. However, the home side offered very little going forward in the opening stages, with a well drilled Stoke side limiting the Citizens to few chances in the first half. In fact, the visitors had the best chance with Mame Biram Diouf, whose scuffedshot was straight at Willy Cabellero.
The second half began much like the first, with the Manchester side struggling to create chances in front of an increasingly frustrated Etihad crowd. The introduction of David Silva did lift the hosts, with the Spaniard carving out a number of near misses on Lee Grant's goal. But the Potters held firm to gain an invaluable point over an under-par Manchester City.
The Citizens knew what was at stake before this match begun, with much of the build up focusing on Manchester City's faint title hopes hinging on no more points being dropped. However, Stoke themselves had everything to play for, with Mark Hughes' side looking to cement their place in the top half on the table. And the pressure attached to this match was clear from the first whistle, with the visitors pressurising the home side high up the pitch - marshalled by the impressive Joe Allen in the middle of the field.
The Potters nearly took the lead early in the first half, when Diouf got in front of Gael Clichy at the front post, but the ex-Manchester United striker failed to make a clean connection with his shot being easily saved by City keeper Caballero. Manchester City's only real chance of note fell to Kevin De Bruyne just before half time, but his control let him down, with the ball trickling through to Grant.
The hosts improved after the break, with Spanish winger David Silva sparking City in to life. Silva brought arguably the biggest threat to the Stoke goal, seeing his shot trickle with the Potters defence in disarray.
Even talisman Aguero, a man with 12 Premier League goals in 15 games, couldn't pick a gap in the Stoke defence, with Shawcross putting in a man of the match performance to keep the Argentinian quiet.
Lively winger Leroy Sane had the chance to snatch the win late on, but couldn't latch on to De Bruyne's cross under pressure from Phil Bardsley. Sane had been in incredible form with 3 goals in his last 3 games, but he looked short of ideas against a strong Potters defence. When the final whistle blew, a real sense of dejection fell over the Etihad, with the home fans knowing that their side sit ten points behind leaders Chelsea with eleven games to play. Stoke City stay in 9th place, four points off of West Bromwich Albion, and will be hoping to build upon this performance when they welcome the league leaders Chelsea to the Brittania on the 18th of March.