Following today’s clash between Stoke City and Huddersfield Town, here are the instant reactions from both managers.
Stoke City hosted Huddersfield Town at the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday January 20, with the hosts taking a two nil victory.
Second half goals from Joe Allen and Mame Biram Diouf gave Paul Lambert a win and all three points at the first time of asking after he replaced Mark Hughes in the hotseat and the victory lifted Stoke out of the bottom three.
Huddersfield will be disappointed as they are without a Premier League win going back to December 16, and the frustration for David Wagner is in the fact they created little across the game.
Teams:
Stoke:
Butland, Bauer, Shawcross, Zouma, Pieters, Fletcher, Adam (Cameron 71), Shaqiri, Allen, Choupo-Moting (Sobhi 90+4), Diouf (Crouch 77).
Substitutes:
Ireland, Martins Indi, Grant, Edwards.
Huddersfield:
Lossl, Hadergjonaj, Jorgensen, Schindler, Malone, Hogg (Depoitre 79), Mooy, Ince (Quaner 56), Pritchard (Sabiri 60), van La Parra, Mounie.
Substitutes:
Smith, Kongolo, Coleman, Williams.
Speaking to the BBC’s cameras a short time after match day referee Michael Oliver blew the final whistle, Stoke City manager Paul Lambert explained.
‘Terrible. I’m tired. I’d forgotten what it was actually like. You sometimes wonder why you come back in. I was enjoying my life last weekend, but it’s for this – the atmosphere was outstanding. From the moment I came to the club, it was about the supporters and the players and they bounced off each other. You can’t hear yourself shout at times. If they stick together and we play that way, we might not win every game, but if we keep that level of intensity, we will be fine.’
Adding.
‘There’s a lot of quality. We shouldn’t be in the position we’re in. Mark Hughes did a fantastic job here for four years, Tony Pulis before him. The lads know for whatever reason they’ve been underperforming but big compliments to them today, they were fantastic.’
Huddersfield head coach David Wagner in his comparative interview explained.
‘It was difficult. For me, it was because Stoke and their supporters were really on it. They were really aggressive and limited us and I felt they deserved it. They limited our offensive game. It shouldn’t be a surprise that Stoke is a top-quality side even if they are not in the best position in the table. We fought and tried everything but were limited offensively. I have to accept where we are in the table. It’s only us who can change it. We have fought since the first day of the season and, even though we have now six games with only three points, we know we have to collect more points to survive.’
