The big screen at the Britannia Stadium was promotion Stoke City's end-of-season awards meal during yesterday's match. Whoever is assigned with compiling the features offer for that evening's entertainment will have their work cut out but at least Stoke will manage to raise a glass to another time in the very best flight. Stoke's slim, if earned victory, raised them three places to 12th and onto the 40-point safety mark, guaranteeing a sixth successive Premier League campaign in 2013/14. It was a victory fittingly secured by a target minutes following the system that maintained the hallmarks of Stoke's route-one approach as Peter Crouch flicked on Ryan Shawcross's extended punt forward and Charlie Adam locked on to it, touching the ball past Steven Whittaker and then burying a low shot past Mark Bunn. Adam raised his hands in the air and seemed skywards as his first goal was celebrated by him because the death of his father, Charlie Adam Snr, in December. It will have brought relief for director Tony Pulis (below) who has received unprecedented critique during Stoke's post-Christmas decline and this week denied speculation he was ready to leave from the team. The Welshman did not comment a while later, making the post-match press responsibilities to his associate, the negative mood was played down by David Kemp, who, saying: "[The criticism] has not affected him or anybody else. We only get on with it and that's the life of a football manager." Kemp also managed a style of play that, when maybe not generating benefits, has little else to recommend it. "The stadium is full every week," he explained. "I such as the type of play today, I enjoyed it last week," he added discussing the gain at QPR. In truth, the initial half was poor. The shape guide had suggested this could be no classic a like Stoke, Norwich joined the overall game with only two wins this season a' and it lived right down to expectations. Norwich winger Robert Snodgrass sent an early on header over, Cameron Jerome saw a volley deflect to safety off team-mate Steven Nzonzi, and that was about any of it. The disappointment appeared to get to both Nzonzi and Jerome, each picking right on up concerns for allergy difficulties, but the game changed with Adam's involvement times after the system. The Scot has not had the most effective of that time period since arriving from Liverpool and did not take up a game in February and March, but he showed his class with his goal. "The goal released the strain a said Kemp, and more objectives should have adopted as Stoke increased the speed. Adam teed up Crouch with a ball over the six-yard box nevertheless the striker entirely missed his kick. Nzonzi then found a robust drive parried by Bunn; Crouch steered the recovery large but would have been offside anyway. At one other end, despite the introduction of Wes Hoolahan to add some art, Norwich didn't drive a save out of Asmir Begovic. Their manager, Chris Hughton, said: "The frustration is [with] the target we admitted. We knew what we had to accomplish, we knew they would play very direct. The moment of the target really harm us." Norwich remain on 38 items and can not relax yet, even though Hughton is confident of easing their constant relegation fears in the upcoming house accessories against Aston Villa and West Brom. "It is in our own hands, we need to make the all the two house games." Stoke (4-4-2 ): Begovic; Shotton, Shawcross, Huth, Wilkinson (Cameron, 61 ); Adam, Whelan (Whitehead, 65), Nzonzi, Walters; Jerome (Etherington, 79), Crouch. Norwich (4-2-3-1 ): Bunn; Martin, Dtc Bennett, Bassong (Pilkington, 86), Whittaker; Tettey (Hoolahan, 67), Johnson; Kamara, Howson, Snodgrass (Elizabeth Bennett, 64 ); Holt. Referee: A Taylor Man of the match: Adam (Stoke) Match rating: 5/10
Via: Another title for palmares of Rafa Benitez, the technician who did not want the fans of Chelsea
No comments:
Post a Comment