report Stoke City 4-1 Fulham
theguardian
Rampant Stoke condemn Fulham to relegation from Premier League
Fulham saw their 13-year stay in the Premier League end in abject fashion as the Stoke City manager, Mark Hughes, came back to haunt his former club.
The Welshman had criticisedFulham for a "lack of ambition" after leaving Craven Cottage in 2011 but the same cannot be said of his current Stoke side who turned on the style in another impressive performance. Fulham looked far from a team that had real desire to stay in the top flight and goals from Peter Odemwingie, Marko Arnautovic, Oussama Assaidi and Jonathan Walters handed them exactly what they deserved.
"You're not fit to wear the shirts," the 3,000 travelling fans sang after supporting their team with such gusto throughout. Sadly for them their side looked disinterested as Stoke tore them apart from the start, the attacking trio of Odemwingie, Arnautovic and Assaidi causing constant problems for a side that have leaked goals all season.
Felix Magath, the alleged hard taskmaster, failed to get his team playing anywhere near his demands but Stoke had to wait until 39 minutes before opening the floodgates. A persistent Arnautovic crossed for Stephen Ireland whose shot was blocked onto the bar by John Heitinga but Odemwingie reacted quickest to convert the loose ball.
A second for Stoke arrived nine minutes after the break as the visitors' defending was ruthlessly exposed, Arnautovic rounding off a free-flowing break involving Assaidi and Odemwingie. It was all over on 73 minutes as Arnautovic crossed for the Liverpool loanee Assaidi to score a simple tap-in and it looked like Stoke would score at every given opportunity.
But Fulham did pull one back on 80 minutes, Kieran Richardson half-volleying home from the substitute Ashkan Dejagah's cross. Stoke though went down the other end to score a fourth, as two substitutes, Charlie Adam and Walters, combined with the latter beating Stockdale with ease.
Fulham saw their 13-year stay in the Premier League end in abject fashion as the Stoke City manager, Mark Hughes, came back to haunt his former club.
The Welshman had criticisedFulham for a "lack of ambition" after leaving Craven Cottage in 2011 but the same cannot be said of his current Stoke side who turned on the style in another impressive performance. Fulham looked far from a team that had real desire to stay in the top flight and goals from Peter Odemwingie, Marko Arnautovic, Oussama Assaidi and Jonathan Walters handed them exactly what they deserved.
"You're not fit to wear the shirts," the 3,000 travelling fans sang after supporting their team with such gusto throughout. Sadly for them their side looked disinterested as Stoke tore them apart from the start, the attacking trio of Odemwingie, Arnautovic and Assaidi causing constant problems for a side that have leaked goals all season.
Felix Magath, the alleged hard taskmaster, failed to get his team playing anywhere near his demands but Stoke had to wait until 39 minutes before opening the floodgates. A persistent Arnautovic crossed for Stephen Ireland whose shot was blocked onto the bar by John Heitinga but Odemwingie reacted quickest to convert the loose ball.
A second for Stoke arrived nine minutes after the break as the visitors' defending was ruthlessly exposed, Arnautovic rounding off a free-flowing break involving Assaidi and Odemwingie. It was all over on 73 minutes as Arnautovic crossed for the Liverpool loanee Assaidi to score a simple tap-in and it looked like Stoke would score at every given opportunity.
But Fulham did pull one back on 80 minutes, Kieran Richardson half-volleying home from the substitute Ashkan Dejagah's cross. Stoke though went down the other end to score a fourth, as two substitutes, Charlie Adam and Walters, combined with the latter beating Stockdale with ease.
