Aston Villa 0-1 Stoke City: Arnautovic strike enough for Potters
The Austria forward deepened the gloom around
Villa Park with the decisive goal early in the
second periodMarko Arnautovic scored the only
goal of the game as Stoke City continued their
upward momentum in the Premier League with a
1-0 win at Aston Villa that piles further pressure
on Tim Sherwood.
Following a disappointing start to the season,
Stoke have turned things around in recent weeks
and claimed their third straight win in all
competitions thanks to Arnautovic's 55th-minute
strike.
The Austria forward saw a 35th-minute goal
dubiously disallowed for offside but would not be
denied a second time, his low shot from 10
yards condemning Villa to a fourth-straight league
defeat.
Arnautovic capitalised on some poor defending
from the Villa backline to break the deadlock, and
Mark Hughes' men rarely looked like being
pegged back.
Micah Richards did waste a glorious chance to
level but Villa - who have not won in the Premier
League since the opening day of the season -
rarely tested Stoke after that.
Defeat for the hosts keeps Sherwood's men in the
bottom three with just four points from eight
games and, with a trip to champions Chelsea next
on the agenda after the international break, life is
unlikely to get any easier for the former
Tottenham boss.
Stoke were without Xherdan Shaqiri because of a
thigh injury but had the better of an open start to
game, although both teams struggled to craft
goal-scoring opportunities.
Charlie Adam almost opened the scoring in
spectacular fashion in the 18th minute with an
effort from inside his own half, reminiscent of his
stunning goal at Chelsea last season. However, a
backpedalling Brad Guzan turned the ball behind/
Stoke were fortunate not to fall behind themselves
as Villa defender Joleon Lescott forced Jack
Butland to tip the ball over the crossbar with a
header from a corner nine minutes later.
The visitors appeared to have been rewarded for
their slight superiority 10 minutes before half-time
when Arnautovic turned Bojan's cross home at
the near post only to be denied by the offside flag,
despite replays suggesting he was level with play.
Lescott was replaced by Jack Grealish after the
interval but the substitution did not have the
desired impact as Arnautovic again displayed his
finishing prowess to put Stoke ahead.
The 26-year-old was afforded too much space by
the Villa defence to latch on to an excellent Glen
Johnson pass and fire in off the post.
Villa should have responded instantly
but Richards headed wide from Grealish's left-
wing cross from point-blank range.
Midfielder Jordan Veretout had a seemingly goal-
bound effort blocked but that was as good as it got
for Villa on yet another uninspiring afternoon for
the Villa Park faithful.
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