Manchester City 2-0 Stoke match report: The Sunday Mirror verdict

It took Roberto Mancini 90 minutes to do what Mark Hughes couldn’t – win a game of football without Manchester City playing particularly well.

It wasn’t defeat at Tottenham that convinced chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak to call time on Hughes’ reign as City manager in such shambolic circumstances last week.

It was draws against Wigan, Fulham, Burnley, Hull and Bolton.

It wasn’t a lack of entertainment value that prompted executive chairman Garry Cook to court Mancini behind Hughes’ back.

It was the fact that Hughes could not teach his players the basics of how to defend a lead despite being allowed to lavish almost £60m on a back four and goalkeeper.

Khaldoon and Cook have since been savaged by the kind of publicity usually reserved for child murderers.

As they sat together in Eastlands’ posh seats yesterday, they were more desperate for a result than Mancini himself.

First-half goals from Martin Petrov and Carlos Tevez duly delivered the points.

But what will not have been lost on the City hierarchy was that City did it without having to once again walk along the tightrope of uncertainty.

This was City’s first clean sheet in the Premier League in eight matches and the first

time they had taken three points without conceding a goal since the win at Portsmouth in August.

And they did it without Joleon Lescott, Wayne Bridge and Nedum Onuoha.

True, City needed a fine save from Shay Given to thwart Tuncay Sanli with the game still goalless.

And Given was there again to deny Stoke substitute James Beattie late on before Danny Higginbotham sliced a great chance wide.

But once Petrov had calmed home nerves by drilling home a 28th-minute opener with his unfavoured right foot, City were always in control.

With Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz joining Shaun Wright-Phillips on the casualty list, Mancini’s selection problems weren’t just limited to his defence.

He opted initially to go with a three-man attack of Tevez, Petrov and Robinho.

City’s lack of height was always going to be a problem in the land of the giants that is the Stoke defence.

But Tony Pulis’ rearguard had no answer to the move that brought the Blues the lead.

Tevez set up a chance for Robinho six yards out and his miskicked attempt fell perfectly for Petrov to make no mistake.

Mancini, who had been given a warm reception after opting to wear a sky blue and white scarf, punched the air in delight before hugging assistant Brian Kidd.

Tevez then doubled City’s advantage in first-half injury time. Gareth Barry met Pablo Zabaleta’s long cross with a forceful downward header and Tevez reacted before Stoke keeper Thomas Sorensen to lift a volley into the roof of the net.

Petrov almost scored again on the restart, forcing a smart save from Sorensen after Andy Wilkinson had injured himself by halting Robinho with a fine tackle.

Robinho was substituted by Craig Bellamy with 20 minutes to go and was soon in the thick of things. He was furious that referee Lee Mason failed to award a penalty when he seemed to be impeded by Potters’ substitute Robert Huth.

Mancini responded to a late Stoke rally by sending on the powerful Micah Richards for Sylvinho to protect the clean sheet.

Pulis may have travelled home feeling that his team deserved some consolation.

This time, they were up against a manager who refused to give anything away.