Stoke City 1 Manchester City 1:MANCHESTER CITY moved back into fourth place above Liverpool when a late Gareth Barry equaliser salvaged a draw against the 10 men of Stoke City, yet even though Roberto Mancini's side still have another game in hand performances such as this will cause no loss of sleep on Merseyside.

Even with Abdoulaye Faye dismissed with more than half an hour left, Stoke were winning until five minutes from the end when Barry hooked in a second effort after his first shot had struck a post. On this form Patrick Vieira looks as if he might be the answer to Liverpool’s prayers, not Mancini’s. Stoke were unlucky not to win when Ryan Shawcross had a goal disallowed from one final Rory Delap long throw.

The opening 10 minutes contained half a dozen Delap specials, yet the tactic was only a partial success. Robert Huth put a free header over the bar from the first, though the more practice City were given the better they became at defending the situations, and within a few minutes the low-trajectory throws were being dealt with quite calmly. The home side enjoyed better luck with Liam Lawrence’s delivery of free-kicks and corners in any case. Mamady Sidibe should have put them in front in the fifth minute when a half-cleared free-kick dropped at his feet, but he hit the tamest of shots at Shay Given in goal.

Midway through the first half, after Vieira had reacted to Glenn Whelan’s niggling with a raised boot and received a warning from Alan Wiley, Abdoulaye Faye met Lawrence’s corner with a goal-bound header that Joleon Lescott cleared from under his own bar.

Mancini’s players managed a few attacks of their own, without ever holding on to the ball for very long or posing Thomas Sorensen any problems. Again they missed the pace and movement of Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy while Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz played like strangers up front with Vieira and Nigel de Jong forming a creaking midfield shield in front of the defence.

Another Huth header from another Delap throw was the closest the first half came to a goal, and it was significant that the visitors’ only chance of any note also came from a set-piece, though Santa Cruz missed the target by a distance when Adam Johnson’s free-kick gave him a sight of goal.

De Jong and Whelan had joined Vieira in the book by the time the game’s moment of controversy arrived early in the second half, and it came from another Delap long throw. Manchester City cleared quickly and caught Stoke with too many men in forward positions. Adebayor made the most of a hoof downfield by showing enough pace to get goalside of Faye, and when the defender pulled him back by the shirt, Wiley initially waved play on but produced a red card when appraised of the facts by his assistant. Wiley did not go up in the Britannia’s estimation when he refused a penalty after Ricardo Fuller had been wrestled to the floor by Barry.

Playing against 10 men, City’s attacking outlook improved when Shaun Wright-Phillips was sent on for the last half hour, yet after Adebayor had sent a shot narrowly over and Stoke had made a defensive substitution the game dramatically swung the home side’s way.

Though a Stoke cross from the left had missed both of its intended targets Manchester City still made a hash of clearing it, with Johnson’s final effort teeing up Whelan for a long range shot.

The midfielder duly fired in an effort that looked optimistic until Given dived over it, a rogue bounce possibly deceived the goalkeeper at the last moment and allowing Whelan’s low shot to creep in to the bottom corner.

Guardian Service

STOKE CITY:Sorensen, Huth, Shawcross, Abdoulaye Faye, Higginbotham (Collins 46), Delap, Whitehead, Whelan, Lawrence (Diao 60), Sidibe, Fuller (Beattie 80). Subs not used:Begovic, Kitson, Pugh, Sanli. Booked: Whelan, Fuller, Diao.

MANCHESTER CITY:Given, Richards (Zabaleta 81), Toure, Lescott, Garrido (Wright-Phillips 60), Adam Johnson (Petrov 86), Vieira, De Jong, Barry, Santa Cruz, Adebayor. Subs not used:Taylor, Bridge, Onuoha, Ireland. Booked: Vieira, De Jong, Barry.

Referee:Alan Wiley (Staffordshire).