Yaya Toure spared Manchester City’s blushes with a second-half winner to keep his side up with the title-winning pace, but this edgy victory did nothing to suggest they are a class apart.

It took until the 70th minute to make the breakthrough, Toure bundling the ball past Asmir Begovic after a cross from Aleksandar Kolarov. But the game was better summed up by a subsequent howling miss and then a fit of petulance from Edin Dzeko.

The Bosnia striker was no more than three yards from an open goal when Jesus Navas found him.

He could not make a connection with his right foot and the ball hit the inside of his left boot instead. So annoyed was he at his lack of coordination that he kicked the post hard enough to make the whole frame wobble.

There are worse ways to end a week in which you have lost in the Champions League at home to Barcelona than toughing out three points. But this is now a faltering phase in City’s season.

‘We didn’t create many chances as Stoke defended very well,’ said manager Manuel Pellegrini. ‘But we had patience.’

Asked if he was happy to ‘win ugly’, he added: ‘The satisfaction is the same because we have three points. Teams come here to try to draw with us and we cannot always score three or four. What’s important is having the patience to win, even by just one goal.’

On this evidence, City are missing the injured Sergio Aguero. Pellegrini said the Argentina forward, out with a hamstring problem, will return to training on Tuesday and could be in contention for next weekend’s Capital One Cup final against Sunderland.

But he conceded that his strikers as a collective are not firing on all cylinders. ‘I think it’s normal during the season that strikers lose the scoring touch sometimes but I trust all of them,’ he said. ‘They will recover their performance.’

On Dzeko specifically, he said: ‘Maybe he had a bad day. Maybe he was nervous. Sometimes these things happen — I’ll continue to trust in him.’

The result leaves City three points behind leaders Chelsea and two behind second-placed Arsenal with a game in hand on each of them — as well as a much better goal difference than both.

But by the next time City take to the field for a Premier League game, away at Hull on March 15, Chelsea could have a nine-point advantage and the psychological boost of leading from the front.

Chelsea will be in league action against Fulham while City are occupied by their trip to Wembley and also the following weekend — at home to Tottenham — while City play in the FA Cup quarter-final against Wigan.

City’s resumption of their Premier League season at Hull will come only three days after the second leg of their Champions League last 16 match against Barcelona and tough fixtures lie ahead.

Indeed, they still have to play away games in the league at four of the top seven clubs; Manchester United on March 25, Arsenal on March 29, Liverpool on April 12 and Everton on May 3.

If City are to regain the title, it will not be via easy pickings and Aguero cannot come back soon enough for them.

Of Pellegrini’s other options up front, Dzeko is clearly out of sorts, Alvaro Negredo is still coming back from injury and was taken off after 55 minutes and his replacement, Stevan Jovetic, lasted fewer than 15 minutes before departing with a hamstring problem.

It says much that City had three-quarters of the possession, possess a clearly superior squad yet only squeaked home by the single goal.

Stoke manager Mark Hughes was pleased with his team’s effort and disappointed that ‘we switched off and two consecutive errors led to their goal’. Hughes added: ‘We came here with a game-plan and executed it well.’

Pellegrini is not a man to become flustered — the odd anti-Swedish rant aside, as aimed at the referee in the wake of the Barca defeat which landed him a UEFA disrepute charge. His consistency was demonstrated by retaining faith in defender Martin Demichelis, whose error in midweek arguably cost City that game.

Fernandinho had the first clear chance, his rising shot flying over before Charlie Adam brought a diving save from Joe Hart at the other end.

Negredo, Dzeko, Fernandinho and Jovetic all missed or had shots saved before Toure brought City relief.

Dzeko then missed his sitter, booted the post and saw his tantrum replayed on the big screen. He and City will need to have better days.

—Daily Mail