Sherwood’s false dawn as Villa go down
TIM SHERWOOD stared straight ahead, unmoved as Victor Moses rolled in Stoke’s stoppage-time penalty to suck the hope out of his debut.
‘Devastated,’ he explained later, never one to under-sell a description.
Just when it seemed Villa would claim a point that would have been underwhelming in the circumstances but important in the grand scheme of things, they were left with none.
Ron Vlaar allowed a marauding Moses possession inside the box. The Dutchman then tried to make amends with a diving tackle that only resulted in referee Roger East pointing to the spot and waving a red card.
In the third minute of added time, Moses sent Brad Guzan the wrong way and the final whistle was followed by the boos that have frequently echoed in this stadium.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. It is 11 Premier League games without victory for Villa.
Sherwood, bouncy in the build-up to this game, was the opposite afterwards. ‘No one feels as down as I am,’ he said.
Scott Sinclair provided the first goal of the new era, a header worthy of the No9 on his back. But Stoke equalised on the stroke of half-time. Jon Walters held off Aly Cissokho and played the ball to Stephen Ireland who crossed to Mame Biram Diouf who found space to nod in. AStoN VillA: Guzan; Hutton,Vlaar, Clark, Richardson (Cissokho 42); Gil (Weimann 58), Sánchez, Delph, Sinclair; Benteke, Agbonlahor. Unused: Okore; Bacuna; Cleverley; Westwood; Given. Yellow cards: Vlaar, Sanchez. Red: Vlaar Stoke CitY: Begovic; Bardsley, Wollscheid, Wilson, Pieters (Teixeira 86); Ireland (Sidwell 86), N’Zonzi, Whelan, Diouf; Walters, Moses. Unused: Arnautovic; Adam; Butland; Crouch; Shenton. Yellow cards: Wollscheid, Whelan, Walters. RefeRee: Roger East.
Att: 31,880