By RICHARD TANNER at the bet365 Stadium
MICHAEL O’NEILL hailed superb strikes by Mario Vrancic and Nick Powell which maintained Stoke’s bright start to the season as Hull’s goal crisis deepened.
Bosnian Vrancic’s first-half goal involved skill and an explosive finish while ex-manchester United ace Powell hammered in a 25-yard second-half freekick to keep the Potters in fifth place – four points adrift of leaders Bournemouth.
Boss O’neill said: “We were a bit lethargic at the start and sometimes you need a spark.
“We got that with the brilliant goal by Mario. He’s a super player as we’ve seen this season. If we can get him in the game he can make things happen in the final third whether it is with assists or scoring. “Nick is always a goal threat. He had some good moments in the game and it was a brilliant freekick. Some aspects of our performance were good but there were others we need to take a look at. We didn’t show our true selves as much as we could.”
It was a familiar story for newlypromoted Hull, who have slipped to second from bottom.
They had plenty of the play and several chances but this was the seventh time in their last eight league games they have failed to score – after hitting four on the opening day at Preston.
Manager Grant Mccann said “For large periods we did well and created some early chances but we are just not clinical enough.
“We’re facing top-quality players every week and give them a half a chance and they’ll take it – like Vrancic did for his goal and Powell with his free-kick into the top corner.”
STOKE CITY: Davies 7; Wilmot 6, Souttar 7 (Batth 78), Chester 7; Duhaney 7, Clucas 8, Sawyers 7, Vrancic 7 (Surridge 65, 6), Tymon 6 (Doughty 71, 5); Brown 6, Powell 9.
Unused Subs: Bursik, Thompson, Ostigard, Ince.
HULL CITY: Ingram 6; Coyle 6, Jones 6, Greaves 6, Elder 7; M Smith 6, Smallwood 5 (Cannon 61, 5), Docherty 6; Wilks 5 (Longman 70, 5), T Smith 5 (Moncur 61, 5), Lewis-potter 5.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Nick Powell. Fine free-kick for Stoke’s second and touches of class.
REFEREE: Thomas Bramall 8.