Mark Hughes believes winger Marko Arnautovic is turning words into actions after scoring both goals in Stoke City’s 2-1 Premier League win against Aston Villa on Saturday.
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Rocked by a 6-0 thrashing against Liverpool in their previous match, Garde had reacted to Villa’s worst home defeat in 81 years by publicly questioning the commitment of his players.
“So at 2-1 you are a bit nervous and in the last five-10 minutes they were asking questions with long balls into the box and we had to defend that”. We showed fragility suddenly and then we have been finished. Aston Villa are eight points from safety but that is a hell of a lot better than where they were a few weeks back when Remi Gardetook over.
With Glen Johnson, Marc Muniesa and Ryan Shawcross injured, Hughes welcomed Geoff Cameron back into his defence but was given a scare when Bacuna lunged at Erik Pieters.
Yet Garde still made only one change from the Liverpool humiliation as captain Micah Richards was replaced by Alan Hutton, meaning Joleon Lescott kept his place despite his recent Twitter row with angry Villa fans.
Arnautovic – in for Mame Biram Diouf – saw a cross nearly deflect in off Jores Okore but Stoke struggled to convert their possession into chances during the opening half-hour.
But Stoke were eventually handed a golden opportunity to break the deadlock when Ashley Westwood clumsily clattered into Bardsley. Target man Rudy Gestede is likely to be involved at the weekend, and will look to make a nuisance of himself in the hope of bagging a goal.
Mark Hughes was full of praise for Marko Arnautovic after the winger’s brace helped Stoke City past Aston Villa.
– The Potters have now won five of their last six league games against Aston Villa, losing the other.
New club-record signing Giannelli Imbula notched his first goal for the club at the Vitality Stadium as the Potters rediscovered their attacking flair after four games without a goal.
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– Only Leicester (8) have scored more Premier League penalties than Stoke this season (5).
