A miserable run of five games without a win in the absence of key
midfielder Yaya Toure, on African Cup of Nations duty with the Ivory
Coast, had cast doubts over City's ability to close the gap on
Chelsea.
But Aguero's brace and strikes from James Milner and Samir Nasri
gave City their first league win at Stoke in 16 years and kept Manuel
Pellegrini's second-placed side within seven points of Chelsea.
The Britannia Stadium has not been a happy hunting ground for City
and they knew almost instantly nothing would come easy as they
were subjected to an early onslaught once Aguero had passed up an
opportunity to give them the lead.
The Argentina international had gone six games without a goal either
side of a month out with a knee injury and again his deadly touch
deserted him as he scuffed a shot from David Silva's perfectly-
weighted square pass.
And that was the cue for Stoke to throw everything at the champions
as they looked to complete an unlikely double following their win at
Eastlands in August.
City goalkeeper Joe Hart just about managed to scramble a Victor
Moses shot around the post for a corner which Peter Crouch met with
a header that was goalbound until it struck Milner.
City lived dangerously again when Crouch then had the ball in the net
but after Hart could only parry another Moses shot into his path, the
former England international converted from an offside position.
Moses was stretching City at every opportunity and went close again
with another fierce drive that flew just wide after Hart had blocked a
Steven Nzonzi shot.
But City finally found some relief in the shape of Aguero who ended
his barren run with his 20th goal of the season with just over half an
hour gone.
There didn't look to be too much on when Milner relieved the
pressure with a long clearance, but Aguero's determination saw him
beat Marc Muniesa to the bouncing ball and from there he only had
eyes for goal.
Running at an exposed Stoke defence, the striker went outside Phil
Bardsley wide before shooting low across goalkeeper Asmir Begovic
and into the far corner.
But if City thought that would give them a measure of control they
were wrong as within four minutes Stoke were level, this time Crouch
timing his run perfectly to meet a Marko Arnautovic cross with a
downward header which gave Hart no chance to claim his seventh
goal of the season.
Still the excitement of the half wasn't over as Aguero thought he had
put City back in front in stoppage time but after meeting a Silva cross
with an initial touch and then a close-range header, he was judged to
have helped the ball over the line with his hand and instead of
awarding the goal, as he looked to have done at first, referee Lee
Mason instead booked City's leading scorer.
Milner and Aguero were the key men in the second half as City finally
put distance between themselves and Stoke.
Milner headed City into the lead from a Nasri cross 10 minutes after
the break as he scored for the second game in a row to double his
Premier League tally for the season.
Aguero then scored from the penalty spot after Silva had been pulled
back by Geoff Cameron and with Stoke a beaten side, Nasri made the
victory even more emphatic, cutting in to steer a delightful shot past
Begovic from 20 yards to show that City won't give up their crown
without a fight.
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