|
Post by Football News on Jan 13, 2016 22:01:54 GMT
Stoke 3 - 1 NorwichStoke make light work of 10-man Norwich after Gary O’Neil is sent offHome team scorersJonathan Walters 49 Mato Joselu 67 Ryan Bennett 78 o.g. Away team scorersJonathan Howson 55 Stoke City continue to climb the table as well as contest the Capital One Cup, though thanks to a late own goal and a particularly brainless Norwich dismissal they found three points easier to come by than might have been expected against relegation-threatened opponents. Norwich managed to come back once after Gary O’Neil daft first half offence, felling Ibrahim Afellay just as the ball was running out of play, but the odds on a second recovery became impossible when Ryan Bennett headed a free kick past his own goalkeeper 12 minutes from time. Stoke could have opened the scoring inside the first 10 minutes when Joselu and Marko Arnautovic combined to break clear from half way. The former’s return pass was a perfectly weighted chip that virtually invited Arnautovic to shoot without breaking stride, though the effort lacked conviction and Declan Rudd was able to push the ball round his right hand post. After Jonny Howson had recorded Norwich’s first effort with an ambitious drive that cleared Jack Butland’s bar Arnautovic was involved again, finding space on the left to send in a cross to the near post that Jon Walters met without managing to hit the target. Recalled to the side in place of Xherdan Shaqiri, out with a hamstring strain, Walters was at the forefront of most of Stoke’s first-half attacks though it was Joselu who came closest to breaking the deadlock before the interval when he stole in to reach a reverse pass from Arnautovic only to put his shot the wrong side of a post. Norwich then had two chances to go in front before handicapping themselves with an unnecessary dismissal. Jack Butland gifted them the first, finding only Wes Hoolahan with a poor clearance then watching in relief as the midfielder’s shot from distance passed safely clear of an unguarded goal, then atoned with a point blank save from Ryan Bennett following a corner. While a striker might have made more of the chance Butland was equal to the defender’s attempt, and Stoke were left to rue their missed opportunities when O’Neil was sent off moments later. Despite a furious crowd reaction and Mark Hughes leaping out of his dugout to express his own displeasure the Norwich player’s challenge on Ibrahim Affellay was probably not as bad as it looked. There was absolutely no need for O’Neil to steam in with a scissors-type tackle as Affellay tried to allow the ball to run out of play over the touchline, though the challenge was more senseless than dangerous, not clever but perhaps not warranting the straight red Neil Swarbrick showed. Stoke failed to make their numerical superiority count in the 15 minutes that remained before half time, though they might have done had Arnautovic not missed the simplest of opportunities. Finding himself on the end of a move for once andslap in front of goal, he managed a mis-kick instead of a shot, a tad embarrassing for a player stalling on a new contract in the hope of a pay rise. The reprieve for Norwich was brief, however, as Stoke took the lead just four minutes into the second half with a trademark Walters goal. Arnautovic was nearly dispossessed by Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe in the build up on the left flank, though when the ball rebounded back to him he hit a sumptuous first time cross that Walters met at the far post with practised ease. The visitors had not ventured out of their own half by that stage of the second half, though when they finally crossed the half way line they made it count at the first attempt. Throwing caution to the wind and a few bodies up front, Hoolahan’s cross was neatly chested back by Odjidja-Ofoe for Howson to have a crack from the edge of the area, and the midfielder produced a drive that Butland had no chance of keeping out. That briefly set up a contest, with the Norwich fans chanting: “We’ve only got 10 men”, before Joselu restored the home side’s lead midway through the second half, finding Rudd’s bottom right corner with a shot after taking a pass from Afellay on the edge of the area. The influential Afellay also supplied the free kick from which Bennett scored the final goal, as well as the corner that saw Peter Crouch bring a late save from Rudd to prevent Stoke making it four. Guardian
|
|