Stoke City 4-0 Charlton Athletic: Potters romp to comfortable win

Stoke cruised to an emphatic 4-0 Sky Bet Championship win by dismantling 10-man Charlton Athletic with a ruthless home performance.

The Addicks had not lost a league game this season before their visit to the bet365 Stadium, but a brilliant brace from debutant Justin Devenny and other first-half goals from Ethan Galbraith and George Hirst saw the Potters put the contest to bed before the break.

Second-half substitute Danny McNamara was sent off for two careless yellow cards in the space of three minutes as the afternoon spiralled spectacularly out of control for the visitors.

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Booked first for pulling back Eric Bocat, full-back McNamara was dismissed in the 50th minute after berating referee Robert Madley.

Stoke should have gone on to score more goals, but the second half was a stroll as both sides played possession football with the result all but confirmed.

Charlton had started the brighter of the two sides and could have easily been ahead after some good early pressure.

Former Stoke striker Tyreece Campbell had a goalbound shot charged down in the eighth minute and then skipper Lloyd Jones shot wide from close-range.

However, it was one-way traffic after that.

Galbraith cut inside and saw his powerful left-foot curler deflected over as Stoke countered, before the hosts took the lead from the penalty spot in the 15th minute.

Charlton debutant Timothy Ouma, one of four changes for the visitors, was adjudged to have bundled over Ben Wilmot in the box and new signing Devenny coolly slotted into the bottom left corner for his first goal since joining from Crystal Palace.

Hirst headed over from a Galbraith cross soon after before the latter doubled Stoke's lead with a fine finish into the bottom left corner in the 22nd minute.

The jubilant Stoke fans could not resist teasing their former manager with the chant "cheer up Nathan Jones" as the afternoon started to unravel for the visitors.

Three minutes later it was 3-0 when Hirst headed home from close-range from a delightful Bocat cross from the left.

Northern Ireland international Devenney fired wide of the right post on the half hour mark and Bosun Lawal headed over as Stoke dominated.

And they got a fourth four minutes before half-time when the impressive Devenny rifled into the bottom right corner to leave the Addicks with a mountain to climb.

McNamara was sent off five minutes after the restart to compound a poor trip for the Addicks who, after conceding so many in the first half, were never in the contest after that.

Replacement Jack McGlynn had a decent chance to make it 5-0 with eight minutes remaining but he struck his left-foot shot straight at goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo.

Addicks sub Millenic Alli tried his luck with a long-range effort two minutes later, but his shot flew high and wide, summing up a bad day for the off-colour Londoners.

The managers

Stoke's Mark Robins:

"If we could have written a [perfect] script, then that would have been it. I thought we played really well. There was a lot to be pleased about.

"On the back of the other night [a 1-0 home win over Norwich] it was really important we had a really good performance against a side that was unbeaten before the game. And we certainly got that.

"We created some momentum with our play and, I've got to say, all four of the goals were fantastic.

"We've got the penalty and then we've scored some good goals. "Shooting has been really lacking for a long time, but they did that well today.

"When you look at what we have, then you're looking for goals. We've got players that are really hungry for that.

"If we can get that throughout the team, well, then that really bodes well, because I'd like to see us scoring more from set-plays as well."

Charlton's Nathan Jones:

"I've gone in and seen him [the referee]. I'm bitterly disappointed with my own team's performance, but I'm as bitterly disappointed with another performance as well.

"There were so many things that went against us but straight after the penalty we went under for 20 minutes - and my teams don't normally do that.

"But we've done it twice here. That's the thing that hurts me and hurts my teams, us going under like that.

"I think they [Stoke] need me to come here because they get better results when I get back.

"We had a great start and wanted to silence the crowd, but we gave away an absolute gift [for the opening goal]. That can't happen.

"But after the penalty, fair play to Stoke, they never looked back. After that gift of the penalty they were far better.

"I'm definitely going to get it [a hostile reception] when I come back here, but I expected that. I had it when I was manager, so I'm definitely going to get it as an opposing manager."

What the result means and next fixtures...

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