Premier League, Britannia Stadium – Stoke 2 (Walters 32, Diouf 83) Bournemouth 1 (Gosling 76)
A late header from Mame Diouf handed Mark Hughes' side their first win of the season after a spirited second-half performance from Bournemouth.
Diouf’s 83rd minute header proved decisive after Dan Gosling had cancelled out Jonathan Walters’ well-worked opening goal in the first half.
Stoke created the better chances in the opening 45 and took the lead just after the half-hour mark through Walters afterMarko Arnautovic’s strong work down the left-hand side allowed him an easy finish from six yards.
Bournemouth struggled to get into the game after a lengthy break in play following a serious injury to striker Callum Wilson in the opening 15 minutes. The forward left in a stretcher with suspected knee ligament damage. Eddie Howe’s side came close to equalising on the stroke of half-time but Matt Ritchie’s close-range effort was well blocked by Erik Pieters.
Bournemouth dominated the second half and were rewarded for their persistence when Dan Gosling took advantage of a loose ball in the penalty box to fire beyond Jack Butland into the bottom corner. Parity lasted only seven minutes when substitute Diouf headed Glen Johnson’s whipped cross beyond Artur Boruc to make safe the points for the home side.
KEY MOMENTS
32’: WALTERS GOAL! Stoke 1-0 Bournemouth – Stoke take a deserved lead at the Britannia Stadium through Jonathan Walters. Shaqiri's cross field ball is well taken by Arnautovic who runs at his man finds the byline and pokes the ball into the six yard box where Walters finds the net from six yards.
44’: RITCHIE MISS! Should be 1-1! Pugh does well down the left and plays Lee Tomlin in but instead of shooting with the goal at his mercy he plays in Matt Ritchie but the ball is behind him and his effort is well blocked by Pieters. Bournemouth have grown into the game after conceding the first goal.
76’: GOSLING GOAL! Stoke 1-1 Bournemouth - Dan Gosling fires Bournemouth level as his right foot shot squeezes into the bottom corner past Butland, who gets a glove to it but it's not enough. Pugh's effort outside the box is blocked and the loose ball is fired goalbound by Gosling and it deflects away from the 'keeper.
81’: GOSLING SHOT! Gosling's shot from 20 yards out is very well saved by Butland, Stoke hanging on.
83’: DIOUF GOAL! Stoke 2-1 Bournemouth - Stoke re-take the lead against the run of play, a fabulous counter-attack finished by a Mame Diouf header. Glen Johnson whips a lovely cross into the six yard box and Diouf stoops to give the home side the lead with seven minutes to go.
87’: BUTLAND SAVE! Jack Butland makes an excellent one-handed save to deny Glenn Murray a second equaliser.
Stoke's Jonathan Walters celebrates scoring their first goal with Xherdan Shaqiri - Reuters
TALKING POINT
Rotten luck for Bournemouth. The Premier League new boys have had some horrendous luck with injuries this season and having already lost Max Gradel and Tyrone Mings to serious injuries, leading goalscorer Callum Wilson was stretchered off in the first 15 minutes with a suspected knee ligament injury. They may lack numbers over the coming months but they showed in the second half that they have a spirit and attitude which will serve them well for the season, but they should have taken a least a point from the game and switched off defensively at a vital moment.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Marko Arnautovic (Stoke): The Austrian proved a real handful for Bournemouth, his direct running down the left hand side stretched the play and he was a more than willing attacking outlet throughout the 90 minutes.
PLAYER RATINGS
Stoke: Butland 7, Johnson 6, Cameron 6, Wollscheid 6, Pieters 6, Whelan 6, Adam 5, Shaqiri 6, Bojan 6, Arnautovic 7, Walters 7. Subs: Afellay 5, Diouf 7, Van Ginkel 6.
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