A late goal from Pablo Zabaleta was enough to seal Manchester City's place in the fifth round of the FA Cup at the expense of Stoke City.

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The hosts could have found themselves behind early on having conceded a corner inside the opening two minutes, but David Silva's header from the corner kick went well high of the crossbar.

While the Spaniard continued to look threatening for the Premier League champions, it was Stoke that found the back of the net first, but Ryan Shawcross's effort was ruled out for offside.

There was some bad news for the visitors towards the end of the half as captain Vincent Kompany limped off with what appeared to be a knee injury, Gael Clichy taking his place.

Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero looked to be the visitors' best chance of a goal during the second half, as Stoke seemed unable to restrict the duo, both having several shots at the home side's goal.

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The Potters' best chance of the half fell to substitute Peter Crouch shortly after coming off the bench, but the striker headed the ball over the crossbar.

Zabaleta took possession of the ball deep inside his own half, before passing the ball off to a teammate and running forward, regaining possession from Aguero inside the penalty box to fire the ball in from close range.

Cameron Jerome had a chance to equalise as the game headed into stoppage time, but he put the ball in the stands from five yards out.