30th September, 2017
Photo: BBC/Getty Image
Stoke City manager Mark Hughes says striker Peter Crouch still has a “huge role” to play at the club after scoring the winner against Southampton.
The 36-year-old striker came on as a substitute in the 70th-minute before poking home to hand his side their second victory of the season.
Crouch has scored three goals in seven appearances for Stoke this season, two of those coming as a substitute.
“Crouch wants to play more games and wants more starts but as a sub he gives the opposition something more to deal with,” Hughes said.
“He has a huge role here and has come up trumps for us late in the day. We got over the line in the end.”
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Mame Biram Diouf’s header put the hosts ahead and they should have doubled their lead a minute later.
Virgil van Dijk, making his first league start since January for Saints, brought down Saido Berahino in the box but his penalty was saved by Fraser Forster.
BBC Sports reports that Southampton equalised through the unlikely source of Maya Yoshida but Crouch came off the bench to secure the three points.
He was the difference as Stoke beat Southampton 1-0 at St Mary’s in May – a game in which Saints enjoyed the majority of the possession but were poor in the final third.
And it was a similar story at the Bet365 Stadium where their chronic lack of confidence in front of goal showed.
Mauricio Pellegrino’s side fell behind when Diouf was left unmarked in the box and nodded in from Xherdan Shaqiri’s corner but Yoshida gave Saints hope with a remarkable scissor-kick volley from Shane Long’s flick-on.
Saints, behind again, saved their best chances for the final 10 minutes, substitute Manolo Gabbiadini had two shots inside 60 seconds, but his side were left empty-handed.