Hard fought win but utterly deserved: even at 2-2 I always felt confident of the win (thank goodness no extra time). Stoke threw everything, including the kitchen sink at us late on but we just about coped.
Well, you can all thank me for that win. I couldn't watch it until the 87th minute. Turned it on. Crouch lunges in. Red. Free kick. Goal. 3-2 to Spacedsaint.
Think we can expect some more of that sort of treatment from some more teams now this season... Looking forward to Koeman's interview, he didn't hold back about West Ham's style, will be interested t hear what he thought of Stoke!
If ever a team was made in the mould of their manager it is Stoke. If they concentrated on playing football rather than trying to out-muscle every situation they would probably be a half-decent side. As it is, they'll end up with half their team suspended by Christmas. Crouch's second yellow could easily have been a straight red. Overall, a satisfying result. We played some superb football at times but also managed to look unduly jittery as well.
Great win Saints against a team that bend the rules of the game to its' limit (and ultimately payed for it). Now what channel is the draw on......Scousers or Spuds at home please.
Good luck trying to get to sleep now . im buzzing. Stoke were dirty as ****, but you have to hand it to them,they made it bloody hard for us .
They did in the second half and that is usually why they are difficult to beat albeit Begovic made some important saves; in the first half they were lacklustre.
Great test of character, and passed with flying colours. I can't think of a time in the last 15 years or so where Saints wouldn't have crumbled under that sort of pressure.
