BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom: Stoke City came from a goal behind to beat Aston Villa 4-1 yesterday and leapfrog their opponents into 10th place in the Premier League table.
Christian Benteke’s early goal put the hosts 1-0 up early on at Villa Park but Stoke were 3-1 ahead at half-time after Peter Odemwingie, Peter Crouch and Steven Nzonzi all scored for the visitors. After the break, Geoff Cameron set the seal on a comprehensive win for Mark Hughes’ men by adding a fourth goal in the final minute of normal time.
Victory put Stoke on 37 points, just three short of the 40-point mark that usually assures a team of Premier League survival.
“We have been waiting some time for an away win,” Stoke manager Mark Hughes told Sky Sports.
“We had a poor start but after that I thought we were excellent and showed real personality and desire on the ball,” the former Manchester United, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Chelsea striker added. “Today we had a cutting edge. Everyone is pulling in the same direction.
“We’re on a good run, in a good position and can look upwards and achieve targets this season. We want to look back on this season with pride,” added Hughes, looking to restore his managerial reputation after a brief and unsuccessful spell in charge of Queens Park Rangers. “Since I came through the door been the players have been open to changing the way they play,” explained Hughes, who has tried to rid Stoke of their reputation as a ‘long-ball’ team.
“They had to engage and commit to it and they have done. We’re enjoying it at the moment.”
Defeat was a huge let-down for a Villa side who just over a week earlier had beaten Premier League leaders Chelsea 1-0.
“The Chelsea game was totally different, the atmosphere and everything, and you come back down to earth again,” said Villa manager Paul Lambert. “Maybe that game took a bit more out of them than we realised.”
However, the Scot had no complaints about the result, saying: “We were second best if truth be known. We started well but it wasn’t good enough. We didn’t deserve to get anything from the game.” AFP
