Chelsea succeeded where Liverpool had failed,coming out on top of a stubborn Stoke side.They varied their tactics throughout the game,moving the ball about quickly and skillfully through the centre of midfield and down both wings,avoiding, as far as possible, getting involved in serious physical battles which would better have suited Stoke.
The Potters had the misfortune to be without not so secret weapon Rory Delap,worryingly out with a damaged shoulder.His place was taken by Cresswell,otherwise the Stoke team was the one that played most of the game against Liverpool.
Early doors a dipping 25 yard shot from Ballack was tipped over the bar by Sorensen. Chelsea opened up the home defence on two or three occasions.Sorensen made a super save with his left foot when one on one with Drogba six yards out from goal,as the Chelsea forward was played in by Lampard's deft ball over the top of Stoke's defenders.
Ashley Cole and Boswinga,a modest £16million purchase,moved quickly and dangerously respectively down the left and right wings.Chelsea's first goal came from the latter as Stoke were unable to regroup defensively having ventured upfield.On 35 minutes Boswinga moved at speed down the right side,made a diagonal run toward the Stole goal.Again Lampard played a ball over the top of the retreating Stoke defenders to Boswinga's feet.His cross cum shot was helped into the net by Griffin in his desperate attempt to clear.
Stoke had a little more of the play in the second half,and retained the ball better when they had possession.Certainly they represented more of a threat on the Chelsea goal-without forcing Cech into major saves - once Fuller came on for Kitson.A mistake by Faye presented Chelsea with a shot on goal which Sorensen did brilliantly to get a hand on,deflecting the ball up onto the crossbar,and away to safety.
The second Chelsea goal(76 mins) resulted from another Stoke defensive mistake.A failed attempt by Leon Cort to control Boswinga's awkward cross in from the right saw the ball run to Anelka who hit a shot first time low to Sorensen's right and into the net.
Chelsea were altogether too sharp and skillful for Stoke to handle at times.You had the feeling that had Stoke managed to score Chelsea could have upped their game.That said....no disgrace!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Potters Through To Carling 4th Round After Penalty Shoot Out!
Stoke City FC 2 Reading 2
For this match Tony Pulis rested key players/survivors from Saturday's exhausting epic against Liverpool.That said Higginbotham, Lawrence, and Sidibe were in the starting lineup in front of 9,141 fans.
Stoke took the lead in the 10th minute when Vincent Pericard easily headed in from a Glen Whelan corner.The Potter's had the best of it territorially through the first half,but just on halftime Higginbotham's attentions caused Bikey to fall inside the box,with Henry netting the Royal's equaliser from the penalty spot.
On 50 minutes Carl Dickinson's corner from the left was fired in (Whelan I think) on goal.An attempted Reading clearance found its way to Mama Sidibe.His scorching left foot shot from six yards out,right of goal,arrowed into the top left corner of the visitors net.The man is becoming prolific (watch out Chelsea!).Reading equalised in the 75th minute,again through teenager Henry (who looks to be a serious talent on the way up),his shot beating Steve Simonsen from 25 yards out,entering the top left corner of the net.
Extra time was pretty even with both sides having chances to win,but not converting.In the resulting penalty shoot out The Potters triumphed 4-3 (Stoke scorers Fuller,Lawrence,Whelan, and Pericard) to go through to the 4th round for the first time since 2000-2001 season.
For this match Tony Pulis rested key players/survivors from Saturday's exhausting epic against Liverpool.That said Higginbotham, Lawrence, and Sidibe were in the starting lineup in front of 9,141 fans.
Stoke took the lead in the 10th minute when Vincent Pericard easily headed in from a Glen Whelan corner.The Potter's had the best of it territorially through the first half,but just on halftime Higginbotham's attentions caused Bikey to fall inside the box,with Henry netting the Royal's equaliser from the penalty spot.
On 50 minutes Carl Dickinson's corner from the left was fired in (Whelan I think) on goal.An attempted Reading clearance found its way to Mama Sidibe.His scorching left foot shot from six yards out,right of goal,arrowed into the top left corner of the visitors net.The man is becoming prolific (watch out Chelsea!).Reading equalised in the 75th minute,again through teenager Henry (who looks to be a serious talent on the way up),his shot beating Steve Simonsen from 25 yards out,entering the top left corner of the net.
Extra time was pretty even with both sides having chances to win,but not converting.In the resulting penalty shoot out The Potters triumphed 4-3 (Stoke scorers Fuller,Lawrence,Whelan, and Pericard) to go through to the 4th round for the first time since 2000-2001 season.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Not Many Expected This......Liverpool 0 Stoke City FC 0
Stoke gave a fabulous account of themselves on the pitch where Man U were humbled last week,against a very strong Liverpool team.The superbly marshalled and organised Stoke defence held out against the best that their multi million £ hosts could offer.
Gerrard had the ball in the net in the early minutes,but the effort was chalked off by Ref Marriner.For the remainder of the half Liverpool were restricted to long range efforts.
The second half offered much more of the same with the spirited Stoke defence taking a battering,but keeping their goal in tact.Clearing headers,interceptions,bodies on the line,and Sorensen having a commanding game in goal,although interestingly having relatively few direct saves to make.
That the Stoke fans outsang the Anfield faithful for much of the game....says it all.Stoke frustrated the home team and fans alike.
A magnificent team effort....so proud to be associated with The Mighty Potters! Goarrrn Stoke
Stoke: Sorensen ,Griffin ,Abdoulaye Faye ,Sonko (Cort) ,Higginbotham ,Lawrence (Cresswell) ,Olofinjana ,Diao ,Delap ,Kitson (Fuller) ,Sidibe
Subs: Simonsen,Whelan,Tonge,Wilkinson,
Gerrard had the ball in the net in the early minutes,but the effort was chalked off by Ref Marriner.For the remainder of the half Liverpool were restricted to long range efforts.
The second half offered much more of the same with the spirited Stoke defence taking a battering,but keeping their goal in tact.Clearing headers,interceptions,bodies on the line,and Sorensen having a commanding game in goal,although interestingly having relatively few direct saves to make.
That the Stoke fans outsang the Anfield faithful for much of the game....says it all.Stoke frustrated the home team and fans alike.
A magnificent team effort....so proud to be associated with The Mighty Potters! Goarrrn Stoke
Stoke: Sorensen ,Griffin ,Abdoulaye Faye ,Sonko (Cort) ,Higginbotham ,Lawrence (Cresswell) ,Olofinjana ,Diao ,Delap ,Kitson (Fuller) ,Sidibe
Subs: Simonsen,Whelan,Tonge,Wilkinson,
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Sticky Time Against Toffees...Stoke City FC 2 Everton 3
This second home game of the season was almost as exciting as the first.The only catch was that this time we lost in what was a competitive and entertaining match.Somewhat against the run of first half play Everton took the lead on 40 minutes through Yakubu.Stoke failed to clear from a goalmouth melee,and when the ball fell to the Everton striker he stroked it inside the left post beyond Sorensen's despairing dive.
Stoke looked lethargic at the beginning of the second half,and fell two goals behind from a rightside freekick which unmarked Anichebe flicked onward into the far corner of the Stoke net(51).
Stoke woke from their slumber and went looking for a goal.On 55 minutes a long Delap throw into the Everton penalty area was flapped away by keeper Howard.The ball reached midfielder Olofinjana,centrally placed in the penalty area.His fierce volley was on target,whistling unstoppably into the Everton net (55).Shortly after Ricardo Fuller was put through on goal.He rounded Yobo who fell to the ground.Fuller took the ball on,beat keeper Howard to his left,and put the ball into the net, only to find that Ref Wiley very generously in my opinion had chalked the goal off for a foul.
However the Potters were back on terms in the 63rd minute.Again it was a Delap long throw into the penalty area which caused sufficient pressure for Jagielka to head into his own net.
Everton should have had a penalty for hand ball against Leon Cort.Fortunately for Stoke the linesman advised Ref Wiley that the incident was outside the box.So just a free kick.
Everton took the lead once again in the 77th minute with a goal,which from Stoke's point of view was a poor one to concede.Cahill ran unmarked right to left across the Stoke box,managing to head the free kick from the right inside Stoke's left post.
Stoke continued to give it their all,mounting serious pressure on the Everton goal without being able to break through again.
It would be fair to say that this was a game that Stoke could easily have won,and would have if their defending had been up to normal Pulis high standards.
Stoke looked lethargic at the beginning of the second half,and fell two goals behind from a rightside freekick which unmarked Anichebe flicked onward into the far corner of the Stoke net(51).
Stoke woke from their slumber and went looking for a goal.On 55 minutes a long Delap throw into the Everton penalty area was flapped away by keeper Howard.The ball reached midfielder Olofinjana,centrally placed in the penalty area.His fierce volley was on target,whistling unstoppably into the Everton net (55).Shortly after Ricardo Fuller was put through on goal.He rounded Yobo who fell to the ground.Fuller took the ball on,beat keeper Howard to his left,and put the ball into the net, only to find that Ref Wiley very generously in my opinion had chalked the goal off for a foul.
However the Potters were back on terms in the 63rd minute.Again it was a Delap long throw into the penalty area which caused sufficient pressure for Jagielka to head into his own net.
Everton should have had a penalty for hand ball against Leon Cort.Fortunately for Stoke the linesman advised Ref Wiley that the incident was outside the box.So just a free kick.
Everton took the lead once again in the 77th minute with a goal,which from Stoke's point of view was a poor one to concede.Cahill ran unmarked right to left across the Stoke box,managing to head the free kick from the right inside Stoke's left post.
Stoke continued to give it their all,mounting serious pressure on the Everton goal without being able to break through again.
It would be fair to say that this was a game that Stoke could easily have won,and would have if their defending had been up to normal Pulis high standards.
Unofficial Podcast By StokeCityEtc
Have added a link to this fine podcast....well worth a listen! Link leads to their website.On the site click link next to 'direct download'.On the download box that opens up just click open if you're going to listen on your pc.The latest Edition 6 with Radio Stoke's John Acres is a 22Mb download.Once download completes your player should pick it up automatically giving you almost 50 minutes excellent 'Stokie' listening.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Sonko Is Superman...T - Shirt
This fine item of apparel has been kindly donated to me by a dedicated Royals fan.Apparently Sonko made a fine stop in diving mode (arm extended presumably!)and the word, then chant, went around the 'MadStad'..."Sonko is Superman"!! The T shirts followed...
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Late Late Signings Show From The Potters
We got brilliant coverage from Sky Sports News yesterday as the club maximized exposure, almost on a par with Manchester City who topped off an 'x' billion pound Abu Dhabi takeover at lunchtime by buying Brazilian striker Robinho from Real Madrid for a modest £32m or so in the evening!
A live reporter at The Britannia Stadium virtually all day (as it got later, with a happy group of Stokies gathered round him),regularly kept us abreast of events ( to quote Tony Pulis recently) " at the bottom of the Premiership food chain".
The dreamers have had us buying in all sorts of players for weeks. What we got was a pretty sensible package, three players in,bringing total spend to something in the region of £20m. Sensible too you could argue (with something like £42 m coming in) because there is the wage bill to consider and maybe additional reinforcements required in January.
Early evening saw the return of former captain Danny Higginbotham seemingly happy to be back from Sunderland. Higginbotham,29, has a three year contract,the fee is undisclosed (but likely to be close to the sum Sunderland paid us for his services twelve months ago).Happy that he was wanted at a club he knows well and still in the Premiership!
The real late show saw Crystal Palace's England U 21 midfielder Tom Soares,22, travel up to Stoke for talks and a medical, with the initial £1.5m four year deal being signed and sealed just before the midnight deadline.
Although the announcement was made near midnight I was not at all clear when the four year £2m deal for Michael Tongue was completed.On Radio Stoke this morning Tony Pulis comments would suggest that things had been developing in the background on this one. 25 years old, midfielder Tongue has his best years ahead of him. When Sheffield United were in the Prem recently he certainly showed up well in their televised matches.
All three players have Premiership experience to bring to the squad.
The one's that got away? Ledley is still at Cardiff even though Stoke upped their offer to £6m.The player was clearly keen to join us but..... watch that space in January! Striker Henri Camara from Wigan was a late prospect but agreement could not be reached
A live reporter at The Britannia Stadium virtually all day (as it got later, with a happy group of Stokies gathered round him),regularly kept us abreast of events ( to quote Tony Pulis recently) " at the bottom of the Premiership food chain".
The dreamers have had us buying in all sorts of players for weeks. What we got was a pretty sensible package, three players in,bringing total spend to something in the region of £20m. Sensible too you could argue (with something like £42 m coming in) because there is the wage bill to consider and maybe additional reinforcements required in January.
Early evening saw the return of former captain Danny Higginbotham seemingly happy to be back from Sunderland. Higginbotham,29, has a three year contract,the fee is undisclosed (but likely to be close to the sum Sunderland paid us for his services twelve months ago).Happy that he was wanted at a club he knows well and still in the Premiership!
The real late show saw Crystal Palace's England U 21 midfielder Tom Soares,22, travel up to Stoke for talks and a medical, with the initial £1.5m four year deal being signed and sealed just before the midnight deadline.
Although the announcement was made near midnight I was not at all clear when the four year £2m deal for Michael Tongue was completed.On Radio Stoke this morning Tony Pulis comments would suggest that things had been developing in the background on this one. 25 years old, midfielder Tongue has his best years ahead of him. When Sheffield United were in the Prem recently he certainly showed up well in their televised matches.
All three players have Premiership experience to bring to the squad.
The one's that got away? Ledley is still at Cardiff even though Stoke upped their offer to £6m.The player was clearly keen to join us but..... watch that space in January! Striker Henri Camara from Wigan was a late prospect but agreement could not be reached
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