Nigerian midfielder, Victor Moses, grabbed the match winner as Stoke City ensured that Tim Sherwood’s first Premier League game in charge of Aston Villa ended in defeat, after the Villains were beaten 2-1 at Villa Park on Saturday.
After a lacklustre opening period, Stoke almost took the lead when Stephen Ireland connected with an Erik Pieters cross, leaving Brad Guzan to make a good save down low.
The chance spurred Villa into life and they soon went ahead through Scott Sinclair, who diverted a header into the top-left corner from Fabian Delph’s delivery in the 20th minute.
The goal seemed to have taken the wind out of the Stoke sails and Moses showed his side’s frustration with a poor attempt from a distance that was comfortably kept out by Guzan.
It appeared as though the hosts would take a 1-0 lead into the interval, but for Diouf, who rose highest to head home into the bottom corner form Ireland’s cross right on the stroke of half time.
Both sides’ industry seemed to cancel each other out in the second half, with Ireland creating the period’s first chance with a tame long-range shot that failed to trouble Guzan.
Chances were few and far between as the game headed towards a tense finish, but Christian Benteke almost made the most of some shaky Stoke defending when he latched on to Delph’s ball, only for his header to be blocked on its way to goal.
Guzan reacted superbly to keep out a volley from Jonathan Walters at the back post in the dying minutes, but his heroics were not enough as Moses converted a last-gasp penalty to give Stoke a surprising win.
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
