Saturday 29th August 2015, Barclays Premier League,
Britannia Stadium, Kick-Off 3:00pm |
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Stoke City |
0 - 1 |
West Bromwich Albion |
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0 - 1 |
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Rondón (45+3) |
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Managers |
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Mark Hughes |
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Tony Pulis |
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Starting XI |
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Jack Butland |
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Boaz Myhill |
(Wilson 63) Glen Johnson |
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Craig Dawson |
Geoff Cameron |
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Gareth McAuley |
Marc Muniesa |
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Jonas Olsson |
Erik Pieters |
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Joleon Lescott |
(c) Glenn Whelan |
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Craig Gardner (McManaman HT) |
Marco van Ginkel |
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Darren Fletcher (c) |
(Arnautović 68) Xherdan Shaqiri |
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Claudio Yacob (Lambert 35) |
Charlie Adam |
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James Morrison |
Ibrahim Afellay |
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James McClean (Gamboa 63) |
(Ireland 81) Mame Biram Diouf |
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Salomón Rondón |
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Substitutes |
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Marc Wilson |
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Callum McManaman |
Marko Arnautović |
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Rickie Lambert |
Stephen Ireland |
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Cristian Gamboa |
(gk) Shay Given |
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Jack Rose (gk) |
Mato Joselu |
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Serge Gnabry |
Peter Crouch |
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Brown Ideye |
Bojan Krkić |
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Victor Anichebe |
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Bookings |
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(foul 66) Pieters |
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Gardner (foul 25) |
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Gamboa (foul 69) |
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McAuley (foul 84) |
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Lambert (foul 90+3) |
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Sent-Off |
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(violent conduct 25) Afellay |
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(violent conduct 31) Adam |
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Attendance:
26,747 |
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Referee:
Michael Oliver (Northumberland) |
Assistant 01:
Gary Beswick (County Durham) |
Assistant 02:
Stuart Burt (Northamptonshire) |
Fourth Official:
Scott Duncan (Northumberland) |
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Official Matchday
Programme |
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●
Salomón Rondón scores his first Albion goal. |
●
Albion claim their first win of the 2015/16 Barclays Premier League
season. |
●
Albion record back-to-back league wins over Stoke City for the first time
since 1988. |
MATCH REPORT
Stoke sunk to a 1-0 defeat to
West Brom after having two men sent off in the space of six first-half minutes
on ex-Potters boss Tony Pulis' maiden return to the Britannia Stadium. Ibrahim
Afellay and Charlie Adam both appeared to only have themselves to blame as they
were shown straight red cards in the 25th and 31st minutes respectively, the
former having put his hand in the face of Craig Gardner and the latter seeming
to stamp on Craig Dawson.
West Brom - again with Tottenham target Saido Berahino not part of
their squad - subsequently grabbed the lead in first-half stoppage time as
Salomon Rondon headed in his first goal since joining for a club-record
#12million over the summer. Stoke, who left a player with an uncertain future
out themselves in Jonathan Walters, put up a creditable fight thereafter. But it
was always going to be difficult to salvage anything from the game following the
two entirely avoidable-looking dismissals, and they remain without a Barclays
Premier League victory this season, while West Brom now have their first.
The mood among the Stoke
faithful had been incredibly positive at first, with Pulis receiving a warm
reception from them as he emerged from the tunnel, and the home side making the
better start to the contest. Potters record signing Xherdan Shaqiri, making his
home debut, flashed the ball across the
West Brom goal early on, Adam sent a drive over and Mame Diouf headed
into Boaz Myhill's arms. But things then suddenly became uncomfortable for the
Potters as Jack Butland was called upon to make a fine parry that kept a James
Morrison shot out. And moments later, Stoke were down to 10 men when Afellay,
having been brought down by
Gardner
and then touched on the face by his hand, reacted by flicking his own hand into
the Albion midfielder's face. Referee Michael Oliver booked
Gardner,
sent Afellay off - and soon after he had his red card out again. Stoke had just
gone close to scoring, with Diouf lifting the ball over Myhill but just being
beaten to it as he tried to finish by Gareth McAuley, when Adam floored Dawson
with a challenge before appearing to stand on his leg. Oliver gave Adam his
marching orders and Pulis looked to swiftly make the visitors' two-man advantage
count, throwing on Rickie Lambert for Claudio Yacob. Within a few minutes,
Lambert's swerving shot had been pushed over by Butland. And six minutes later
West Brom had the lead when Lambert lofted a delivery to the far post and Rondon
headed the ball back across Butland into the corner of the net.
Rondon had a chance to score
again shortly after the restart but put his header over, and Darren Fletcher
then had a shot deflected wide. Stoke, who lost Glen Johnson to an injury, did a
good job of keeping their opponents at bay and even looked like they might
threaten an equaliser at times, but nothing materialised.
Sporting Life
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