Stoke City FC Three Months of the Premier League Part Two

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Having suffered a disappointing home defeat to Everton six days before, Stoke made the trip to face Liverpool at Anfield looking odds on to suffer a third straight defeat. If this occurred, a gap would have begun to open up between the bottom three and the relative safety of lower mid-table. Liverpool seemed to have inflicted the Tevin Coleman Jersey  worst po sible start on Stoke after just two minutes, Steven Gerrards free-kick curling straight into the far corner of thenet for what would have been his 100thgoal for the Merseyside club. The goal was disallowed for a dubious offside though, and Stoke were handed a second chance of keeping the scores level, one that this time they did notturn down. Pulis defensive tactics worked perfectly, and the 0-0 final scoreline was undoubtedly at the time, Stokes best result of the season.The Potters held Liverpool to a draw at their Anfield home Three days later the Carling Cup was again the focus for Stoke, Championship high-flyers Reading visiting the Britannia Stadium. Vincent Pericard and Mamady Sidibe were on target for Stoke, only for the home sides lead to be twice cancelled out by Readings James Henry, leaving the scores at 2-2 after normal time. Two goalle s periods of  Kevin Mawae Jersey extra-time followed before the tie went to a penalty shoot-out, with Stoke eventually prevailing, Leroy Lita, now on loan at Norwich,blazing the deciding penalty over the bar. It was beginning to look like we could put on a bit of a run in the cup, particularly after drawing League Two Rotherhamin the next round. The run has now come to fruition, with Stoke in the quarter finals for the first time in 30 years, but the league remains the priority.The Stoke players look on as the tie is decided on penalties After the distraction of the League Cup, it was back to league matters forStokewith the visit of title chasing Chelsea tothe Potteries. Stoke were huge underdogs for the game, so at thetime any sort of result would have been a bonus. We had though overcome the odds to secure a point at Anfielda week before, so an inwardly Ashtyn Davis Jersey  optimistic mood was felt prior to the Chelsea match, with many hoping that the feat could be repeated, and something could be taken from another member of the so called big four. Unfortunately for Stoke, that was not quite the way things worked out, Chelsea looking every bit the champions they hope to become, easing past Stoke and rarely looking out ofsecond gear in a 2-0 win, goals courtesy of Jose Bosingwa and Premier League leading scorer Nicolas Anelka. Bosingwa and Anelka scored for Chelsea at the BritNext up for a Stoke side who had not scored a goal in the league for almost a month was the long trip South to face perennial over-achievers Portsmouth, who had played a draining UEFA Cup tie in Portugal le s than 72 hours before. A point or even a win looked a distinct po sibility from the game, so it was po Jacob Martin Jersey  sibly the biggest disappointment of the season to that point when Stoke slipped to a 2- Matt Ammendola Jersey 1 defeat following a poor performance. Ricardo Fullers lone goal the only consolation on the longjourney home.Fuller scored Stokesonly league goal of the month, profiting from yet another Delap long throw An international break meant there was no game the next weekend, so Stoke second Premier League month came to a close with the Potters sitting in a worrying nineteenth in the league, with just four points on the board. Things would have to improve in the next month for us to haul ourselves back up the table, and with a number of winnable looking fixtures coming up, the month from October 16th to November 16thlooked like being an important one, with the first fixture a home meeting with rock-bottom Tottenham. More on that next time.