Manchester City 4-0 Stoke: Kelechi Iheanacho nets twice in comfortable victory

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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

Published: 08:36 EST, 23 April 2016 | Updated: 11:17 EST, 23 April 2016

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The sun shone, Stoke wilted again, and Manchester City strolled to victory. As a prelude to Tuesday's Champions League semi-final here against Real Madrid, Manuel Pellegrini could hardly have wished for anything better.

The City manager was able to tweak his squad as he saw fit for their biggest game of the season. Captain Vincent Kompany and Fernandinho were rested. Kevin De Bruyne was left on the bench.

David Silva played 57 minutes on his return from injury, and Sergio Aguero was also withdrawn with plenty left in the tank after scoring his 23rd goal of the season.

Fernando rises above the Stoke defence to head home a Jesus Navas corner and put Manchester City on course for an easy victory

The Brazilian wheels away in celebration after finding the back of the net for only the second time this season and giving his team the lead

Fernando is embraced by Navas, whose corner he headed home to help City stroll into the lead during a low-key first half

Sergio Aguero tucks home a penalty with three minutes of the opening period remaining after Ryan Shawcross fouled Kelechi Iheanacho

Iheanacho taps in a third in the second half getting on the end of Pablo Zabaleta's pass to all but end the game as a contest

The Nigerian frontman rounds substitute goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard and strokes into an unguarded net to seal victory for City

Two-goal Iheanacho jumps in celebration in front of the home supporters after scoring his second against the Potters

MATCH STATS, PLAYER RATING, PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE

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

Kelechi Iheanacho's first goal - and City's third of the afternoon - came at the end of a swift passing move involving eight of the home side's players. CLICK HERE to see more from Match Zone

And still City won at a canter, moving ever closer to a guaranteed place in next season's Champions League regardless of whether they are crowned champions of Europe in the weeks ahead.

The perfect preparation for Madrid? 'I think so,' said Pellegrini. 'It was very important to have our minds focused on this game and not on Tuesday. That is the best way.'

Stoke's minds are clearly on the end of the season, making them the ideal opponents.

Indeed, this was the third game in a row that Mark Hughes's side have conceded four goals following heavy defeats against Liverpool and Tottenham.

In contrast to his old club City, Hughes's injury problems continue to pile up.

He confirmed before kick-off that Ibrahim Afellay will be out until Christmas after snapping the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in training on Friday.

Veteran goalkeeper Shay Given, himself a replacement for the injured Jack Butland, went off at half-time with a groin problem. Stoke's best player Marko Arnautovic followed before the end, clutching a thigh.

'We are hurting a bit with the injuries,' admitted Hughes. 'Even so, on paper I had a decent enough team out there that should have done better.

Stoke forward Marko Arnautovic goes through his pre-match rituals prior to kick-off against Manchester City on Saturday

David Silva tussles for possession with Stoke defender Phil Bardsley during the early stages of the clash at the Etihad Stadium

Iheanacho takes aim at the visitors' goal as City struggled to break down their opponents in the first half-hour of the game

Iheanacho reacts to seeing his effort fly narrowly wide of the Stoke goal, as the Potters stood firm despite plenty of City possession

Gianelli Imbula takes on the home midfield in a rare foray forward during the opening exchanges of the Premier League's early kick-off

Silva shields the ball from Stoke midfielder Geoff Cameron, as City continued to huff and puff but struggled to create clear chances

'That's three poor games and too many poor goals conceded. But we've had a decent enough season. We have three games to come and we will go again.'

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.

Sergio Aguero tries to charge down Shay Given's kick. Given became the first 40-year-old since Sir Stanley Matthews to play for Stoke

Aguero was left to chase half-chances and lost causes as City failed to find their best form during a tepid opening 35 minutes

Imbula takes aim at the City goal as, despite seeing only a limited amount of possession, Stoke still created good opportunities

However, Stoke found themselves behind in the 35th minute, with Given despairing as Fernando's header beat him to his right-hand corner

The Potters players look dejected after conceding the opening goal. They would find themselves two behind at half-time

Shawcross pulls down Iheanacho three minutes before the break, giving referee Robert Madley reason to award a penalty

Aguero steps up to side-foot his spot-kick beyond Given to the Stoke goalkeeper's right-hand side to give City a two-goal advantage

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.

Given guessed the right way but was unable to stop the striker's shot. The keeper was subsequently substituted at the interval

Joe Hart was called into action during the opening stages of the second half as Stoke pushed hard for a route back into the game

Striker Joselu takes aim at goal under pressure from Manchester City full back Aleksandr Kolarov at the start of the second period

The forward falls to the ground in frustration after failing to find the target and Stoke's profligacy was punished by City in the 65th minute

But 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.

Iheanacho celebrates after converting the simplest of chances at the end of Zabaleta's cross to end the match as a contest

Navas looks to keep hold of possession as Marc Muniesa plays close attention to the Spaniard during the second half at the Etihad

Arnautovic was unable to inspire the visitors to an unlikely comeback after City put themselves in total control with 25 minutes left

Zabaleta darted down the right and crossed for an unmarked Iheanacho to slide into an empty net to put the match beyond Stoke

Iheanacho goes down on his knees to celebrate the first of his goals against Stoke during City's comfortable victory on Saturday

The Nigerian is unlikely to start against Madrid on Tuesday, but he can offer a genuine threat off the bench.

'Kelechi will have an important role in this club in the next years,' said Pellegrini. 'He is not only a striker who scores goals in the box, his contribution is very important in the way the team plays.

'He scored two goals and received a penalty. I'm very pleased for him.

'Remember, I put him in the squad list for the Champions League and took out Samir Nasri. He can be involved in every game.'