Mark Hughes’ Stoke City is now unbeaten in five matches after scrapping together a 1-0 home win over Hull City on Saturday at the Britannia Stadium thanks to a second-half goal from resurgent Peter Odemwingie.
The Potters now have 40 points on the season and solid-footing in the top half of the table, while Hull is now seven points clear of the drop zone after sacrificing the points.
Stoke had a good amount of the play early but their passes were a hair off, in particular deep in Hull territory. The Potters control went into the 10th minute, when Tom Huddlestone tore into a ball from about 22 yards away only to see it deflected out for a corner that came to nothing.
The two clubs couldn’t find a goal when they matched up at Hull earlier this season, and it stood 0-0 at the half. It was a gritty first 45 minutes that didn’t provide much to look at for supporters. If you’re a neutral, you were looking for a better match elsewhere by the half-hour mark, though Shane Long provided a few moments worth watching.
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Hull should’ve found the lead in the 56th minute, but Asmir Begovic made a huge save and Nikita Jelavic couldn’t slot home the rebound of a David Meyler left-footed shot.
Stoke broke through in the 62nd through Odemwingie, who took advantage of lax defending and fired a low left-footed shot past a diving Harper to put the Potters ahead 1-0. It came off a horrible pass from Ahmed Elmohamady. The Potters had all the play, and a Harper save in the 75th kept the deficit at just one.
The goal was Odemwingie’s fourth in his last three matches, all Stoke wins.
LINEUPS
Stoke City: Begovic; Pieters, Wilson, Shawcross, Cameron; Arnautovic (Adam, 85′), Nzonzi, Whelan (Palacios, 81′); Ireland, Odemwingie, Crouch (Guidetti, 86′)
Goals: Odemwingie (62)
Hull City: Harper, Rosenior, Bruce (Aluko, 70), Chester, Davies, Meyler, Huddlestone (Quinn, 81′), Livermore, Jelavic (Sagbo, 79′) Long, Elmohamady
