Stoke denied by Villa defence

Stoke were held to a 0-0 draw by Aston VIila, despite a second half onslaught at a blustery Britannia Stadium.

Defences prevail in hard-fought contest at the Britannia

Stoke were held to a 0-0 draw despite a second half onslaught against an out-of sorts Aston Villa side who lost ground in the battle for fourth place. After a drab first period, substitutes Ricardo Fuller and Dave Kitson inspired the Potters, but they were unable to find a way past a determined Villa backline. A weary-looking Villa side defended well, but could have gone behind midway through the second half after Fuller danced past three defenders, only to scuff his shot when through on Brad Friedel's goal. Stilyian Petrov had Villa's best chance in the first half, but his dipping drive from 20 yards was well-saved by Thomas Sorensen Martin O'Neill's men created few clear chances and did not deserve to earn a victory that would have seen them close the gap on sixth-placed Liverpool The Britannia Stadium has become a tough venue for most visiting sides but for a team with aspirations of mixing it with Europe's elite next season Villa did not test goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen nearly enough. So poor was the game that when the public address system, 15 minutes into the second half, advised one fan to attend hospital immediately as his wife had gone into labour there must have been plenty of supporters wishing they also had an excuse to leave early.

Lunge

The first incident of note came in the 11th minute when Carlos Cuellar was booked for a lunging challenge on Matt Etherington as the winger tried to escape down the left touchline. Ashley Young's near-post cross forced Danny Higginbotham to concede a corner six minutes later and James Collins' glancing header flew wide of the far post from Downing's cross. Etherington then screwed a shot off target from the edge of the penalty area as both sides struggled to create anything resembling a clear-cut chance. Richard Dunne and James Milner were booked in close succession for fouls on Tuncay Sanli and Rory Delap but on both occasions Stoke failed to threaten from the free-kicks. The first shot on target came in the 27th minute when Petrov's low drive from outside the penalty area was saved low to his left by Sorensen. Milner then flashed a shot on the turn over the crossbar after Downing threaded a pass down the inside-left channel into the penalty area, with Etherington next to shoot wide from 25 yards for Stoke. Just after the restart Villa almost opened the scoring when Downing advanced before unleashing a shot which had Sorensen diving to his left before the ball deflected off Carew and flew into the near-post side-netting.

Positive

Thirteen minutes into the second half Pulis' double substitution did not please the home side but it was at least a positive move. Britannia favourite Tuncay was replaced by Fuller and Mamady Sidibe by Kitson as Stoke's front two were changed. Much has been made of Stoke's physical approach, but when Warnock went into referee Kevin Friend's notebook for a tackle on Dean Whitehead the bookings count was 4-0 to Villa with less than an hour gone. Fuller's first action saw him run parallel with the 18-yard line trailing three Villa players behind him before bobbling a shot into the arms of Friedel. The lack of quality was highlighted by Downing who seemed surprised when Warnock's left-wing cross reached him at the far post and his first touch bounced six yards away. Fuller's cross-shot from the left had Brad Friedel at full-stretch to tip it away from the run of Glen Whelan as Stoke upped the tempo in the last quarter of the match. Petrov became Villa's fifth booking for a body-check on Etherington and from the resulting free-kick James Collins' desperate block deflected Fuller's 10-yard shot over the crossbar. Kitson's foul on Milner gave the England international a shooting opportunity 25 yards out but he curled the free-kick just wide. Stoke defender Robert Huth could have snatched a win in the final minute but headed Etherington's corner over.

Stoke City	Team Statistics	Aston Villa
0	Goals	0
0	1st Half Goals	0
3	Shots on Target	3
8	Shots off Target	5
5	Blocked Shots	4
8	Corners	6
7	Fouls	8
2	Offsides	2
0	Yellow Cards	4
0	Red Cards	0
62.4	Passing Success	68.6
9	Tackles	16
55.6	Tackles Success	75
39.8	Possession	60.2
49.1	Territorial Advantage	50.9