Stoke punish Clarets to extend away-day woes
STOKE CITY 2
Walters (20), Muniesa (35)
BURNLEY 0
TWO first-half goals lifted Stoke into the Premier League’s top half as Burnley’s rotten away form continued in a defeat at the bet365 Stadium.
Jonathan Walters scored his first goal since March with a looping volley, before centre- back Marc Muniesa, who had never found the net in the Premier League, broke upfield to add a second which leaves the Potters ninth in the table. It inflicted a fifth defeat in six on the road for the Clarets, who remain winless on their travels despite four triumphs at Turf Moor for last year’s second-tier champions.
The away-day woes Burnley had experienced had prompted Sean Dyche to alter both his formation and line- up, dropping Steven Defour, Sam Vokes and Matthew Lowton and revisiting the 4- 4- 2 formation. Stoke, meanwhile, were unchanged as Mark Hughes persisted with the 3-4-3 that had earned them three points at Watford.
It seemed an alien system to the Potters’ players in the early exchanges, as Scott Ar field saw a free- kick deflected wide and Andre Gray fired off target.
The hosts eventually woke up and nearly took a 10thminute lead from a Xherdan S haqi ricorn er that an unmarked Bruno MartinsIndi nodded against the base of the far post.
It was from another deadball situation that Stoke did go ahead 10 minutes later as Walters turned home his 40th Premier League goal for
the club. Mame Diouf, the converted right wing- back, played a one-two with Shaqiri from a throw and his cross bypassed Ben Mee, with Walters’ instinctive flick towards goal looping into the net off the far post.
Walters had a part to play in the second goal 10 minutes before the break, even if his role was an inadvertent one.
With Stoke’s scorer down injured, Stephen Ward passed out of play to allow him to receive treatment, much to Dyche’s despair, and the Burnley boss was even more exasperated when Charlie Adam only gave Burnley the ball back via a throw deep in their own half. Less than a minute later, Stoke scored.
Muniesa started the move himself by skipping past two challenges and converted with a fine finish from Marko Arnautovic’s cross. It was a meek goal for the Clarets to concede, particularly as it stemmed from Ward’ s sporting act.
With Lee Grant’s only save coming from Jeff Hendrick’s effort prior to the break, Dyche got the second- half response he was looking for in attitude and application after the resumption.
There was more bite about Burnley and their players fumed at referee Mark Clattenburg’s decision to only award a yellow card after last- man Muniesa’s tugging match with Gray carried on into the box.
Hughes seemed to sense a Burnley fightback too, as he introduced Joe Allen for Shaqiri on the hour mark, after Mee had driven into Grant’s arms from a corner.
Allen tested Paul Robinson on a couple of occasions, once from a Arnautovic pull back and another from a layoff from replacement Peter Crouch, and the Welshman’s presence at least seemed to help kill off any hopes of a Clarets comeback, with Grant saving from Gray in their only clear-cut opening.