Potters pile on Wolves pressure

Stoke made themselves safe and heaped more pressure on relegation threatened Wolves with an easy 3-0 win.

Jones, Shawcross and Pennant goals add to McCarthy woes

Stoke made themselves safe and heaped more pressure on relegation threatened Wolves with a comfortable 3-0 victory at the Britannia. The Potters dominated from the off and Kenwyne Jones got the opener on 16 minutes when heading home a Jermaine Pennant cross. Ryan Shawcross then scored a crucial second in first half injury time when tapping home a deflected Glenn Whelan shot. Pennant added a third six minutes after the re-start to make sure of the win, with the result lifting the Potters into ninth with 42 points - and surely safe for a fourth successive season in the top flight - while Wolves remain second from bottom, a point from safety after their 13th defeat in 17 away league games. It is a fine time for Tony Pulis' side, who also have an FA Cup final at Wembley to look forward to for the first time on 14th May against Manchester City. They dominated from the off at the Britannia and Jones headed in his 11th goal of the season following a cross from Pennant after getting between Richard Stearman and Jody Craddock, although goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey got a hand to the ball he could not prevent it going into the net. Stoke maintained the momentum and three minutes later Hennessey did well to turn away a shot from Andy Wilkinson after he had been released by Pennant. This was a testing time for a Wolves side, who had won only two league games on the road this season.

Driving seat

Stoke were in the driving seat but suffered a blow in the 28th minute when Matthew Etherington pulled up sharply clutching his hamstring. The winger, such an influential figure in the side, was carried off on a stretcher and replaced by Dean Whitehead. Four minutes later Jones should have extended their lead but headed over from close range after good work by Jonathan Walters. Stoke pushed forward again in the 39th minute and Marc Wilson tried to pick out Walters only for Hennessey to intercept and make the clearance. Then hard-pressed Hennessey saved from Whitehead and tipped over a header from Shawcross before the Stoke skipper added a second on the stroke of half time. Whelan rattled in a shot that was deflected by Stoke midfielder Karl Henry into the path of Shawcross, who only needed to nudge the ball over the line. Stoke were not content to sit on their lead and Walters skipped away from Stearman in the 48th minute only to drag his effort wide of the post. However Wolves suffered another blow three minutes later when the home side made it 3-0 following good work by Jones and Walters. Walters delivered the ball into the middle and Pennant got an excellent first touch to find the target with Hennessey again wrong-footed by a deflection.

Fitting reward

It was a fitting reward for Pennant, who had troubled Wolves with his pace and movement. It was a long way back now for the visitors but to their credit they continued to work hard. Midfielder Matt Jarvis whipped in a cross after 62 minutes and Christophe Berra escaped his marker but headed high over the bar. Play switched back down the other end and Pennant picked out Shawcross with his corner only for the defender to send his effort off-target. Stoke kept pushing forward and Walters sent a thunderous 30-yard shot inches wide of the post late on. Substitute Danny Pugh had a half chance of adding a fourth in stoppage time but cleared the bar with his effort as the Potters registered a crucial victory.

Stoke City	Team Statistics	Wolverhampton Wanderers
3	Goals	0
2	1st Half Goals	0
7	Shots on Target	1
7	Shots off Target	4
1	Blocked Shots	1
7	Corners	11
14	Fouls	14
0	Offsides	2
3	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
66.4	Passing Success	79.3
21	Tackles	11
81	Tackles Success	81.8
35.2	Possession	64.8
47	Territorial Advantage	53