Super Mario shows his quality with his first touch in fine Blackpool victory

MARIO Vrancic needed only one touch to help Stoke City edge a tight game at Blackpool.

The 32-year-old playmaker started on the bench at Bloomfield Road but got the call to replace Jordan Thompson, who had just won a free-kick inside the Blackpool half.

Vrancic, below, dashed over to take the set-piece, sent over an expert narrow cross which Harry Souttar headed back across goal to hit the post, where Steven Fletcher was lurking to knock the ball in with his chest.

O’neill said: “Mario adds quality, we know that when the game is in the balance a little bit.

“We weren’t under that much real pressure but we had to deal with balls in behind us, which we did a lot better than we had done previously.

“Then Mario comes on, it’s a great delivery, Harry makes good contact and Steven is there to knock it in off the post.”

It was a welcome win for Stoke after a run of three defeats and a draw in the previous four games.

A gritty response to letting a three-goal lead slip to draw with Cardiff at the weekend.

O’neill said: “It was a hard-fought victory and we knew it would be. We played against a very good team. I have to say I was very impressed with how they played, with good energy. This is a tough place to come – the crowd… they had great backing from their fans.

“I wasn’t that enamoured with how we played in the first half.

“But I thought in the second half we were more dominant, gave very little away throughout the game and managed to find the goal. It’s a good away win and something for us to build on.”