Iheanacho scores brace as man city beat stoke

Pablo Zabaleta is a cult hero to theManchester City faithful and unsung in the wider football consciousness. Yet the way he zoomed along the right then selflessly created the third goal for Kelechi Iheanacho was a moment worthy of marking his 300th appearance for the club.

The Nigerian’s 10th of a breakthrough campaign allowed his team to cruise home, and Iheanacho scored a second towards the end after the substitute Wilfried Bony played him in.

On Tuesday Real Madrid are at this stadium for the Champions League semi-final first leg and this was ideal preparation. The win lifted Manuel Pellegrini’s men up to third place on 64 points with three matches remaining, though Arsenal can leapfrog them if they win at Sunderland on Sunday.

Pellegrini said: “It was very important to have our mind focused on this game and not on Tuesday. I always say a big team must be able to have their minds in both competitions.”

In the buildup Pellegrini said Vincent Kompany had suffered no reaction following Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw at Newcastle. That game was a first start following a knee injury yet when the match-day squad was announced the captain was not in the 18. In explanation, the manager said: “For Vincent it was a risk to play two games in 72 hours. He is OK, he worked this morning.”

Kevin De Bruyne was stood down to the bench to protect him as Iheanacho was given a first league start since a 1-0 win at Sunderland on 2 February.