Stoke City U21 secured a comprehensive 4:0 victory over Wolverhampton U21 in the Premier League 2 Division One regular season on Friday evening. The hosts dominated proceedings from start to finish, with goals from A. Walker, A. Ampah and two from T. Martin securing all three points. The result leaves Stoke four points clear at eighth place while Wolves remain rooted to bottom with zero points from two matches.
And here's the thing about matches like this — you watch the whole thing but you remember one moment. For me it was the 20th minute, when M. Ji picked up a yellow card and suddenly the tempo shifted. Walker had already opened the scoring at 15 minutes, and by then Wolves were already scrambling to find their footing. Tchamadeu went off his head two minutes later, earning a booking of his own.
Ampah doubled the lead at 38 minutes, and to be fair the home side had been the more dangerous side throughout. The statistics tell an interesting story — Wolves controlled 56 per cent of possession and registered 66 attacks compared to Stoke's 52, yet the visitors created nothing of note. Big chances created: zero for both sides. That's what happens when you waste possession.
Martin struck twice, first at 53 minutes and then at 81, rounding off a performance that never got out of second gear. The home side registered eight shots on target with an accuracy rate of 0.89, while Wolves managed just five on target at 0.45 accuracy. Six yellow cards for Stoke against two for the visitors suggested a game that tightened things up considerably after half-time.
What this means in the table is clear enough. Stoke move to four points from three games with one win, one draw and one defeat — a modest start but one they can build on. Wolves sit 31st after two losses, having failed to find the net in either outing. They'll need to see it out quickly if they're to fancy their chances of climbing away from the foot of the division.