Mame Biram Diouf's brace earned Stoke City a 2-0 win against struggling West Bromwich Albion in this afternoon's Premier League clash at the Britannia Stadium.
© Getty Images
The visitors had a great chance within the first minute as a Potters set piece was cleared and sent forward towards Brown Ideye, who beat Marc Muniesa before powering into the area and firing over the crossbar.
Minutes later, the hosts had a penalty shout turned down after Glenn Whelan appeared to have been brought down by Craig Gardner in the box.
A high-tempo spell on the quarter-hour mark saw Stephane Sessegnon and Ideye threaten Asmir Begovic in the Stoke goal, while Bojan Krkic attempted a 25-yard shot that flew just wide of the West Brom post.
On the half-hour mark, James Morrison connected well from 25 yards to send a volley towards goal, but the Stoke stopper was able to collect with little difficulty.
© Getty Images
Stoke broke the deadlock just six minutes into the second half when Bojan's ball found the run of Erik Pieters, who shook off Andre Wisdom to send a cross towards Diouf.
The striker then beat his marker, lined himself up and fired past Ben Foster into the back of the net for his first goal in nine games.
Despite a battling display from West Brom, who struck the post in the 64th minute, things would get even better for the hosts as Diouf bundled Marko Arnautovic's wayward shot into the visiting net to extend his side's lead.
Alan Irvine's charges were deflated following this further setback and were unable to fashion anything else of note as the Potters saw the game out with ease for successive wins for the first time this season.
Giuseppe Labellarte
