COSTA TURNS TABLES ON STOKE
MARK HUGHES limits his eye-bulging explosions of fury to once or twice a season – to retain the maximum shock effect.
This pathetic exit from the competition he’s loved since he was a kid dreaming of Wembley might have caused him to out-do even Sir Alex Ferguson – the king of the hair dryers.
The weekend that Hughes still feels is the most “eagerly anticipated” in the football calendar ended in humiliation for him.
The owner of four winner’s medals as a player bounced out of bed yesterday bursting with ambition to pour champagne into the old silver pot as a manager.
He will have woken up this morning with the mother and father of all cup hangovers and flashbacks of Matt Doherty’s stunning free-kick and Helder Costa’s equally powerful strike that put the gloss on Wolves’ deserved victory.
Hughes said: “I was very angry at half-time. We have no excuse for a performance like that. We were so poor.
“You can talk until you are blue in the face about Premier League standards and intensity, but that’s what happens if you don’t have it.
“We had enough talent and quality on the pitch to have won, but over 90 minutes we did not deserve to win.”
After being told to grasp the opportunity with team-mates on African Cup of Nations duty, Bojan might have played for Stoke for the last time.
An ineffective first 45 minutes meant he did not appear for the second half. He might as well pack his bags for Middlesbrough now and Hughes would probably carry the former Barca star over red hot coals to get him there.
The diminutive attacker was just one of a collection of highpriced overseas stars who let Hughes down. “I could have taken four or five off at halftime,” said the Stoke boss.
The second-half introduction of Charlie Adam and Joe Allen was not enough, as Carl Ikeme formed a one- man human shield.
By then Benfica loanee Costa had embarrassed Erik Pieters again, whipping his shot from the corner of the area beyond Lee Grant.
And it could have been worse with Jon Bodvarsson twice missing the target from good positions.
In contrast, 4,500 travelling Wolves supporters enjoyed their day in the Potteries and a first FA Cup win in five years.
Wolves boss Paul Lambert once claimed that most Premier League managers could do without the FA Cup when he was fighting to save his job at Aston Villa, but he enjoyed the boot being on the other foot.
“Costa’s goal was world class. He is a big talent for us, but the all- round performance was outstanding,” he said.
“Carl made four world-class saves. He’s such a big character for us, not just as a goalkeeper.”
The lead provided by Costa looked a slender one when Stoke finally awoke from their slumbers, fired by the half-time rocket from Hughes, but there was no way past Ikeme.
When Bodvarsson was felled on the edge of the box 10 minutes from time Doherty relieved the pressure with his powerful, away swinging free-kick. You could almost see the veins on Hughes’ temples popping with fury. STOKE CITY: WOLvES: MAN OF THE MATCH: REFEREE: