Miserable day for City striker Robinho

The hosts grabbed the lead against the run of play on 28  minutes through Bulgarian winger Martin Petrov’s far post tap-in  and Carlos Tevez poked home before the break to double the lead.

City, playing their first game under Italian Mancini since  Mark Hughes’s 18-month reign as manager ended last Saturday,  remained sixth following their eighth league win of the season.

“I am very happy because we won a hard match. I say thank  you to the players because they are fantastic,” the 45-year-old  told Sky Sports.

“I think that we must improve, but today I am very happy for  the players.” Donning a blue and white City scarf, the Italian received a  warm welcome from the home fans prior to kickoff although his  decision to leave in-form forward Craig Bellamy on the bench did  not prove popular.

“They (City fans) were fantastic. For an hour the fans must  be our 12th man on the pitch,” added Mancini, who won three  Serie A titles with Inter Milan.

City did include Brazilian international striker Robinho in  the line-up although it was the visitors who pressed first when  striker Tuncay Sanli’s effort was well blocked by goalkeeper  Shay Given.

Mancini’s decision to switch wingers Petrov and Robinho  shortly after quickly paid dividends as the hosts took the lead  albeit in scrappy fashion as Petrov salvaged an embarrassing  Robinho mis-hit to tap home a Tevez cross.
They made it two seconds before the interval when poor  defending from Stoke, now without a win in five league games,  allowed an unmarked Tevez to notch his 10th of the season.

Despite the scoreline City were largely unimpressive and  struggled to build momentum after the break, forcing Mancini to  end Robinho’s afternoon on 70 minutes after a dismal display.

The 32 million pound ($51.04 million) striker’s exit was  greeted with ironic applause by the Eastlands fans who increased  the volume as Bellamy stepped on as his replacement and  continued to impress.