Stoke City 0-1 Bournemouth - Dominic Solanke winner extends Cherries' lead at top

3 years ago 33

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Of Dominic Solanke's nine Bournemouth goals this season, seven have been at home but the other two have both come in the Midlands

Dominic Solanke scored the only goal of the game as Championship leaders Bournemouth won at Stoke.

The Cherries top scorer cashed in on a 51st-minute blunder by Potters keeper Adam Davies to net his ninth goal of the season from close range.

On a night when Stoke lost their own top scorer Nick Powell to a first-half injury, the Potters at least enjoyed seeing striker Tyrese Campbell return off the bench after the break following 10 months out with a knee injury.

But although he twice went close and Sam Clucas hit the post, the Cherries remained relatively untroubled - and their ninth win in 13 games this season was enough to send Scott Parker's men six points clear at the top.

Second-placed West Bromwich Albion will try to halve the leeway again on Wednesday when they go to Swansea.

It was Stoke boss Michael O'Neill's 100th game in charge - but the statistics otherwise did him no favours.

Stoke's first home defeat of the season was not only Bournemouth's fourth single-goal win in a row in the Potteries, it was also their fourth successive Tuesday night victory.

And the Potters had only themselves to blame as they had marginally the better chances.

Inside the first 20 seconds Jacob Brown should have scored, only to drag his left-foot shot wide with the best chance of a poor first half.

But just six minutes into the second half the Cherries won it when Stoke sloppily gave the ball away. Ryan Christie took a speculative poke at goal, the ball bounced off the chest of the clumsy Davies - and Solanke slotted away the rebound.

Of his nine goals this season, seven have been at home with the other two both coming in the Midlands, having also scored in a 2-0 win at Birmingham in August.

What's up next?

After suffering back-to-back defeats for the first time since April, Stoke slip to sixth and could drop even lower (if Huddersfield and Reading both win on Wednesday) ahead of this Saturday's trip to Millwall.

Bournemouth are also back in action on Saturday at home to Huddersfield.

Line-ups

Stoke

Formation 3-5-2

1Davies
16Wilmot
36Souttar
5Chester
2Smith
7ClucasSubstituted forSurridgeat 60'minutes
4Allen
15Thompson
14Tymon
25PowellSubstituted forVrancicat 28'minutes
18BrownSubstituted forCampbellat 70'minutes

Substitutes

6Batth
8Vrancic
9Fletcher
10Campbell
12Bursik
22Surridge
28Sawyers

Bournemouth

Formation 4-3-3

42Travers
17Stacey
24Cahill
5Kelly
33ZemuraBooked at 59mins
8Lerma
26KilkennyBooked at 3minsSubstituted forPearsonat 83'minutes
29BillingSubstituted forMephamat 90+2'minutes
10ChristieSubstituted forLoweat 90+5'minutes
9Solanke
32Anthony

Substitutes

1Nyland
6Mepham
11Marcondes
18Lowe
19Stanislas
22Pearson
27Rogers

Referee:Dean Whitestone

Attendance:18,427

Live Text

Match ends, Stoke City 0, Bournemouth 1.
Second Half ends, Stoke City 0, Bournemouth 1.
Attempt blocked. James Chester (Stoke City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Attempt missed. Ben Wilmot (Stoke City) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Mario Vrancic with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Stoke City. Conceded by Chris Mepham.
Foul by Jaidon Anthony (Bournemouth).
Ben Wilmot (Stoke City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Bournemouth. Jamal Lowe replaces Ryan Christie.
Attempt saved. Mario Vrancic (Stoke City) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
Foul by Ben Pearson (Bournemouth).
Sam Surridge (Stoke City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Bournemouth. Chris Mepham replaces Philip Billing.
Corner, Stoke City. Conceded by Ben Pearson.
Offside, Stoke City. Ben Wilmot tries a through ball, but Sam Surridge is caught offside.
Corner, Stoke City. Conceded by Jefferson Lerma.
Foul by Jefferson Lerma (Bournemouth).
Sam Surridge (Stoke City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Tyrese Campbell (Stoke City) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Sam Surridge with a through ball.
Substitution, Bournemouth. Ben Pearson replaces Gavin Kilkenny.
Attempt saved. Tyrese Campbell (Stoke City) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Sam Surridge.