STOKE HEADING DOWN A BLACK HOLE
Diouf miss sparks anger, as relegation looms
Get the fork ready, Stoke would appear to be done. Paul Lambert called it in his programme notes, branding this ‘a game we quite simply have to win’. Quite simply, they did not.
there was hope, when Badou Ndiaye’s deflected effort brought an early lead. But a bundled second-half Ashley Barnes equaliser extinguished it, on an afternoon where the trap door gaped even wider. Stoke are not through it yet, but with at least four points to make up on rivals with games in hand and just three of their own to play — starting with a trip to Liverpool on Saturday — they are staring down the black hole.
Lambert replaced Mark Hughes in January, with Stoke hoping for a bounce. Instead, they got a splat. the Scot’s first match — a 2-0 victory over Huddersfield— now looks like a mirage.
No wins and only six points have followed from the subsequent 11 games. there has been organisation, discipline and hard work but there has not been success.
If anything, the freefall has accelerated and relegation awaits for an underperforming group of players who should not be in this position. While Burnley have punched well above their weight this season, Stoke have slapped at thin air. Before this one, 12 places and 24 points separated the overand underachievers. the hosts, however, started strongly. Lambert had bemoaned Stoke’s recent luck but it was with his side when they opened the scoring on 11 minutes.
First, the impressive Joe Allen’s cross deflected kindly to Ndiaye, who nodded the ball to Mame Diouf. Diouf played it back to his fellow Senegalese international, who neatly cut inside and curled a shot from the edge of the area. His effort cannoned off the outstretched boot of Kevin Long before eluding Nick Pope to nestle into the bottom corner.
Relief rather than revenge was the emotion behind the subsequent chorus of Delilah.
For a subdued Burnley, who — after Southampton’s FA Cup semi-final loss — are all but assured of a europa League spot, there was frustration.
that was encapsulated when Barnes saw fit to shove a ball-shielding Bruno Martins Indi to the turf and pick up a yellow card. With a fired-up Stoke winning second balls for fun, Diouf should have done better with a Xherdan Shaqiri cross but could only head at Pope. Worse was to follow.
tension was never far away but there was pure terrace anger following what turned out to be a key moment, when a wide-open Diouf somehow failed to connect with a Moritz Bauer delivery just yards out on 43 minutes.
the much-maligned forward appeared to try to control the ball when everyone else in the stadium, let alone on the field, would have tried to hit it first time.
It went under his feet and a precious opportunity was lost, the significance of which could not be overstated. the understandably irate Stoke fans, with hands on heads, have seen this movie before.
to his credit, Lambert raced on to the field at half-time to console Diouf. He must have the patience of a saint. Similar levels of sympathy may not be on offer elsewhere in the city over the coming days. After the break, Burnley came to life as the home hordes must have feared they might.
Jack Butland did well to tip a Jack Cork header over the bar and from the resulting corner was at it again — impressively denying James tarkowski from close range. If Butland does go to the World Cup, england will not have a goalkeeper short on practice.
the warning would go unheeded. Again, the goalkeeper stopped a tarkowski header from an Ashley Westwood cross but, grounded, could do nothing to stop Barnes forcing it over the line.
Stoke, with Diouf benched to a light smattering of boos, regrouped and Ryan Shawcross glanced a header wide before tyrese Campbell drilled a low effort at Pope.
Stephen Ireland’s curling effort from the edge of the box struck the outside of the post with two minutes to go to prompt more anguish. A winner, and a serious shot at survival, failed to arrive. Indeed, Burnley’s Johann Berg Gudmundsson went close on three occasions in injury time to making an awful situation even worse.
For the miracle in the Potteries to become a reality, Stoke will need to win their last three games.
While the visit of Crystal Palace and the final-day trip to Swansea City may be viewed as winnable, few would bet on three points at Anfield next Saturday, despite the fixture being between both legs of the home side’s Champions League semi-final. Stoke will hope the minds of Jurgen Klopp and his players will be on opponents Roma. If it is not, their decadelong stint in the Premier League may well be in ruins.