Hughes fumes as Stoke let lead slip twice
Stoke fury as Arter stays on following a ‘reckless’ challenge
AFTER going more than 10 hours without an away goal, Stoke City scored two against Bournemouth, but it was still not enough to secure them a rare win on the road.
A point apiece for these two midtable teams did, however, mathematically secure them Premier League safety for another season.
Mark Hughes, Stoke’s manager, wanted more, though, and was aggrieved that Bournemouth’s Harry Arter escaped being sent off following what he called a ‘reckless’ tackle on Joe Allen. Hughes’s mood was not made any better by Bournemouth’s late equaliser, which he thought should have been ruled out for offside, too.
Twice Stoke took the lead and twice Bournemouth broke back.The opener was Stoke’s first away goal in 629 minutes and they didn’t even score it themselves, as Lys Mousset put the ball in the back of his own net from a corner.
Junior Stanislas got Bournemouth level on the restart.
Then in the 73rd minute, a mix-up at the back saw Bournemouth’s Simon Francis and Smith fail to clear a cross, and Mame Biram Diouf’s took advantage. It was his first strike for Stoke this season.
Bournemouth’s leveller was scrappy. Another cross by Smith saw Max Gradel head towards the target and the ball bounced off King then Shawcross.