"You may as well start writing now, there won't be any goals," ventured one Stoke fan after around an hour and it was hard to dispute his logic. Then, with little warning, Jon Walters scored Stoke's fifth league goal of the season and, minutes later, Rory Delap headed home the sixth. In these parts they call it an avalanche.
Fulham could call it an injustice, as for the most of the game they showed the greater ambition, only to be buffered away by Stoke's impressive defence. Enterprise had been treated with some suspicion. Danny Murphy, one of the game's brighter sparks, was loudly booed by Stoke fans and hounded by their players for claiming in a press conference last season that Tony Pulis was among the managers who sent out his players to injure opponents. "I didn't mention it to the players, but it could have been on their minds," said Pulis, with a decent command of irony.
Fabio Capello was not at this game – one of his better decisions since taking control of the national team – but the presence of three capped England strikers could have proved instructive. On this evidence, Bobby Zamora, Andrew Johnson and Peter Crouch should have as big a part to play in the opening three matches of Euro 2012 as Wayne Rooney. Crouch fluffed the first half's best chance, failing to connect with a deep cross from Jermaine Pennant, and Stoke laboured ineffectively before they unexpectedly clicked into gear with 15 minutes remaining.
Matthew Upson headed just wide and then Delap struck the bar before several more minutes of Stoke pressure led to a goal. Matthew Etherington's drive was deflected into the path of Walters, who reacted to turn the ball past Mark Schwarzer, ending the Australian goalkeeper's unbeaten spell just shy of the 500-minute mark. "It was a bit fortunate, but we could have scored several more," Pulis said.
Fulham, who were unlucky to lose Moussa Dembélé to injury after 35 minutes, had chances: Zamora flicked a header wide late in the first half and John Arne Riise twice threatened with long-range efforts, but hopes of a late comeback were thwarted when Delap broke clear to head home from Etherington's left-wing free-kick.
Fulham's manager Martin Jol hovered around the moral high ground. "They are strong here and it's hard to play against their kind of style," he said. "I thought we did very well to contain them, but you have to do your bit for 90 minutes, not 80."
