City, who have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their games without Vincent Kompany in defence, were forced to weather early pressure for the Potters as Erik Peters and Arnautovic broke down the left flank before Bacary Sagna snuffed out the danger.

Marko Arnautovic (2nd L) of Stoke City celebrates scoring his team's first goal with his team mates during the Barclays Premier League match between Stoke City and Manchester City at Britannia Stadium on December 5, 2015 © Getty Images

Stoke's early pressure finally paid off as Xherdan Shaqiri's trickery bought him space to deliver a cross from the by-line and his low delivery was met by Arnautovic, who got ahead of Nicolas Otamendi and netted from close range.

After going behind, the Citizens started to enjoy possession and could have hit back through Kevin De Bruyne, but the Belgian's side-footed effort failed to beat in-form keeper Jack Butland.

Instead, Stoke doubled their advantage as Shaqiri split the City backline with a through-pass for Arnautovic and the Austrian, with only the returning Joe Hart to beat, guided the ball into the corner of the net.

As the away side's defence continued to be dogged by indecision, Arnautovic caused further problems as he got himself in a dangerous attacking position, but his attempt to pick out Bojan Krkic allowed Fernando to clear the danger.

After Arnautovic fired another shot narrowly wide as he sought a first-half hat trick, City almost pulled a goal back before the interval as Aleksandar Kolarov's strike from a tight angle was turned onto the post by Butland.

Seconds later, the dangerous Arnautovic again found himself clear. However, his shot beat Hart but not the woodwork.