Saturday, November 20, 2010

West Bromwich Albion 0 - 3 Stoke City

Stoke netted three times in the second half at West Brom to extend their winning run in the Premier League.

Matthew Etherington's penalty put the visitors 1-0 up in the 55th minute after referee Chris Foy adjudged Scott Carson to have fouled Kenwyne Jones.

Substitute Jon Walters converted another spot-kick with five minutes of normal time remaining and then bagged his second at the death to make it three wins out of three for the Potters.

That takes Tony Pulis' side, only recently hovering around the relegation places, up to eighth in the table as they built on victories over Birmingham and Liverpool.

The result brings more disappointment for the Baggies, though, who have now lost four of their last five league fixtures.

The hosts looked to make an early impression with Peter Odemwingie having a shot deflected wide in the first minute.

The Nigeria striker then whipped a free-kick straight into the arms of Asmir Begovic, but Stoke were soon launching an attack of their own, with Jermaine Pennant just unable to control his attempted cross having collected the ball in the box from Etherington.

It seemed Pennant had picked up an injury and within seconds he was withdrawn, Pulis throwing Tuncay Sanli into the fray.

Odemwingie almost found himself in the clear as he tried to bring down Carson's long kick but Foy halted the action to speak to Ricardo Fuller and Gabriel Tamas, who had been involved in a flare-up.

Odemwingie then drilled a low shot straight at Begovic before Youssouf Mulumbu rifled an effort from outside the area which rose too high too soon.

Albion upped the tempo slightly with Giles Barnes sending in a series of crosses from the right flank around the half-hour mark.

One fell to Jerome Thomas, who struck the ball against a Stoke shirt, while another was just inches away from being met by James Morrison's head.

Fuller was crowded out in the box at the other end before he could fashion a strike and Odemwingie blasted a free-kick over the bar after Tuncay had brought down Thomas.

Odemwingie then twisted and turned but could only hit a tame effort which Begovic gathered comfortably.

The Baggies began the second period brightly, with Thomas sending in a cross that bounced off Odemwingie's knees and Morrison just beaten to a delivery by Barnes.

But 10 minutes after the restart, it was the Potters who opened the scoring.

Fuller picked up the ball after Albion failed to clear a cross and laid it to Jones, who initially appeared to have let it slip past him but got a touch just as Carson was diving at his feet.

Although contact looked to be minimal, the Trinidad and Tobago frontman went down in the box and Foy awarded the penalty which Etherington then calmly dispatched into the bottom corner.

Baggies boss Roberto Di Matteo responded by introducing Simon Cox for Morrison and after Dean Whitehead sent an effort high over the bar, Somen Tchoyi was the next man to come off the home bench in place of Barnes.

Tchoyi was straight into the thick of things and angled a low delivery into the danger zone which Stoke managed to kick away.

The Cameroonian then saw his header from Thomas' cross tipped over by Begovic as the hosts piled on the pressure.

Marek Cech blazed over soon after and Cox's low shot from distance deflected wide before Di Matteo made his final substitution, with Graham Dorrans replacing Mulumbu.

Odemwingie thought he had been fouled having fallen in the box under the attentions of Robert Huth, but it was Stoke who won another penalty in the 85th minute.

Whitehead was clattered by Cox as he ran on to a Tuncay pass and Walters - on moments earlier for Etherington - converted the spot-kick.

Walters was not finished there either, receiving the ball from Jones' flick in stoppage time and having one shot blocked before beating Carson to wrap up a comprehensive win.

Stoke boss Tony Pulis insisted he was content to let other people get excited after his team extended their winning run to three games.

"We have been on a bad run of four straight defeats in the Premier League and now we have three straight wins, which is the first time this club has done that in the Premier League," Pulis said.

"It is a great achievement by the players, but as I have said, whether you are losing or winning, I think it is important the manager stays as level as he possibly can.

"I'll allow the supporters to get down and despondent or happy and getting carried away."

Pulis was delighted to see Walters score a brace to cap the week in which the striker had made his debut for the Republic of Ireland.

"It is brilliant," said Pulis. "I spoke to (assistant manager) Dave Kemp before the game and I really wanted to get Jon on after he had made his debut for the Republic this week. It has given him such a boost and you just want to get him on there."

There were question marks over the amount of contact between Jones and Carson in the incident that led to Stoke's first penalty, but Pulis felt his team deserved any luck they had received.

"I have not seen them (in replays) so I just hope they are penalties," said Pulis, who also confirmed Jermaine Pennant had been withdrawn early on due to a hamstring problem.

"But we've had three penalties in about 92 Premier League games and I think Arsenal have had nine already this year, so we are due a few penalties and decisions - although I hope they are good decisions."

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