Two goals from in the first 16 minutes from Mark Arnautovic were good enough to put paid to a well below-par City on a day when little went right.
In truth, the hosts outplayed and out-fought the Blues and Manuel Pellegrini’s men will want to put this performance behind them as quickly as possible.
Joe Hart was one of five changes from the team started against Hull in midweek as City returned to Premier League action, intent on ending a run of three games without an away win and consolidate top spot.
But whether it was the early kick-off combined with the blustery conditions and partisan home crowd, City just weren’t at the races from the word go
...Stoke 2 City 0...
Stoke seemed to have adopted Liverpool’s in-your-face high press and again, the Blues struggled to counter the high-energy start and it didn’t take long before the hosts were rewarded.
Xherdan Shaqiri, not renowned for his pace, skipped past Fernando and Aleks Kolarov before crossing into the six-yard box where Arnautovic reacted quickest to knock the ball past Hart with just seven minutes played.
Kevin De Bruyne had a good chance to level within six minutes, but he attempted to pass the ball into the net and Jack Butland read his intentions and saved easily.
Within a minute the Blues were two goals down and it was the same combination who did the damage again as Shaqiri played a precision ball that sliced through the visitors’ defence and found Arnautovic who made no mistake as Hart raced off his line.
It was worrying to see the Premier League leaders picked apart so easily by a side in the bottom half of the table and the worry was Stoke would pile more misery on with so much of the game still to play.
It nearly was, too as Arnautovic was put clean through again five minutes before the break but he slipped as he hit the ball and his shot struck the outside of the post with Hart beaten.
A three-goal lead wouldn’t have flattered the Potters with the Blues midway through possibly their worst display under Pellegrini
...Stoke 2 City 0...
It was hard to see how the pattern of the game could change, either – true the swirling, strong wind was playing a part, but City were having a bad day at the office and Shaqiri, Bojan and Arnautovic were causing all kinds of problems.
Though there was a light improvement in the opening moments after the break, Fabian Delph and Wilfried Bony with little more than 10 minutes played.
David Silva, still working his way back to full fitness, was also replaced shortly after by Jesus Navas as Pellegrini shuffled his pack one last time, but it was going to take something special to take anything back north up the M6 and going off what had gone before, it seemed unlikely at best that City would find a way back into this encounter.
In fact the same duo that had undone City twice before should have added a third goal to their repertoire on 68 minutes when Bojan played in Arnautovic and the Austrian forward slid the ball into the six-yard box and Shaqiri fluffed his lines with the goal at his mercy.
Then, three minutes later, Bojan came within a whisker of lifting the ball over Hart as the miserable afternoon continued and there was no let-up as Fernando limped off a minute later with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
City never threatened Butland’s goal in the time that remained and have now gone four games on the road without a win and it’s almost five-and-a-half hours since an away goal was scored.
The Blues will hope to react quickly against Borussia Monchengladbach on Tuesday.
