ANOTHER NAIL IN THE HEART
Stoke survival bid looks doomed after Clarets fightback
THINGS are looking grim for Stoke. And it begs the question, how on earth are they in this mess?
Their performance for an hour against high-flying Burnley suggested a team capable of pressing for a top-10 spot, not struggling wildly against the grip of relegation.
Yet even during an eyecatching opening against a side well worth a European place next season, the seeds of their downfall were evident. So, too, the reason they look doomed.
Stoke led thanks to a wellworked goal that enabled Badou Ndiaye to finish on 11 minutes with a deflection off Kevin Long on the way past Nick Pope.
Just before the interval came their opportunity to put the game beyond the Clarets.
Xherdan Shaqiri, always probing, released Moritz Bauer on the right to deliver an excellent cross which found Mame Diouf in front of an inviting goal, barely 12 yards out.
Somehow though, the hapless forward allowed the ball to comically slip through his legs... and with it, most likely the Potters’ Premier League status.
Diouf ’s recent form has offered a painful insight into the problem manager Paul Lambert has faced since his arrival here in mid-January.
His record stands at 11 games without a win and just seven goals – the damning statistics and profile of a team destined for the drop.
Lambert said: “It’s well documented that lack of goals has been an issue and the goals against column doesn’t make great reading either. When you have those two at either end it makes things difficult.
“But I can’t fault the team for the way we play, the way we try to do things right.
“And until somebody tells us that mathematically we can’t do it, we never give up and that’s important for the football club.
“As a team and as supporters, we never give in. We will have to win at Liverpool, against Palace and at Swansea.”
Diouf’s missed chance seemed to drain the life out of Stoke while manager Sean Dyche’s half-time team talk revitalised Burnley.
Even before the leveller from impressive Ashley Barnes, Stoke had been pressed back far too deep to seriously consider holding out for 45 minutes. It was a poor goal to concede too.
A half-cleared corner was sent back in by lively Matt Lowton, then came a free header for James Tarkowski – saved brilliantly by Jack Butland – and another uncontested header from Long before Barnes turned the ball home off his knee.
Three unchallenged touches in the six-yard box is not good enough from a side fighting to stay up. And it suggested the fight has gone out of Stoke.
They managed one final flourish when sub Stephen Ireland clipped the outside of a post, but it seemed like a last thrash as the relegation noose tightened around their survival hopes.