A S-POTT OF BOTHER STAT ATTACK

Stoke ........ 1 Bournemouth ...... 2 Sparky’s leaky lads slip into drop zone

EDDIE HOWE’S Bournemouth are not exactly Manchester City in full flow.

Pep Guardiola’s rapier attack ripped Stoke apart in 90 minutes at the Etihad Stadium last week but the Cherries dismantled the Potters twice in the space of barely two minutes to leave Mark Hughes’ side sliding into the bottom three.

You can measure the power of the south coast side by their record this season, they had scored only once in their previous four away matches.

But Andrew Surman and Junior Stanislas had all but put this game to bed within the opening 17 minutes for only their second win since May.

City had no one to blame but themselves. No one covered full-back Adam Smith’s run in behind and he was able to look up and feed Stanislas, who was unmarked in the box.

The midfielder, who missed the first six matches through injury, had enough time to stroke the ball back into Surman’s path and he spotted the gap inside Jack Butland’s right-hand post to give his team the lead.

Then as the Potters wasted their kick-off Benik Afobe, only in the line-up because Josh King and Jermain Defoe were ruled out through illness and a strain, bulldozed his way into the box.

Skipper Ryan Shawcross got his feet into an almighty tangle and brought down the third-choice striker and Stanislas thumped the spot-kick past Butland.

Only Jordon Ibe’s selfishness denied Howe the easiest half-time talk of the season as he attempted to beat Butland when Afobe was totally unmarked with an empty net in front of him.

It was another nightmare half for manager Hughes, who was booed off by a home crowd frustrated by just one win in the last seven league games.

He said: “We’ve got to get back on the horse. We fell off last week and it’s time to show our mettle.

“It’s no use feeling sorry for ourselves. We have done okay up to this point but this week has damaged that point of view.

“We made it difficult considering the two goals came very, very quickly. The first, I think, was their first shot and then to give them a penalty, we played into their hands.”

But Hughes refused to blame Shawcross, making his first start after another back injury, for the blunder that virtually put the game out of reach.

He added: “He’s just back after six weeks out and has to get used to the pace of the Premier League. It caught him out.

“If we had got back on level terms I think we would have won the game. We have to pick ourselves up again, it was a big game for us. We wanted to show a response but in the first half we didn’t. We did in the second half without creating enough chances.”

In truth, Stoke did show far more spirit and adventure after the break.

And when Mame Biram Diouf claimed his third goal in as many starts there was a glimmer of hope.

It was not a picture-book finish from the Senegal star and one-time Manchester United striker as it bounced off his knee via a long punt and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting’s lucky lay-off – but they all count.

Hughes ranted on the touchline when referee Lee Probert ignored appeals for a penalty after Jese went tumbling after a darting run into the box.

But the official was right, with Smith having pushed the ball away before bringing down the Spaniard.

And when Smith crumbled at the slightest of touches, a furious Joe Allen waded in and almost started a free-for-all before he was dragged him away.

It leaves both teams in the relegation zone – but no prizes for guessing who is the happier manager.

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe said: “It was a tough game, the football we played in the first half was excellent but we knew at half-time the game would change.

“At 2-1 we looked very solid and didn’t really give them many chances.

“We haven’t had the results we wanted this season but they have been very tight defeats and I have never doubted the players’ character or desire.

“We have not quite been at our best and that’s knocked confidence but hopefully with results like today we will return to our very best.

“I thought we looked supremely confidence early in the game and Stanislas was excellent.

“We did miss him early in the season. He scored a lot of goals last season and he’s a goal creator and at this level you can’t have too many of them.”