Fuller: wonder goal

The three teams that have come up will have to make their home games count and Stoke have done that today.

Phil Thompson
Quotes of the week

Also see

• Late Sidibe winner sinks Villa

Stoke City 3-2 Aston Villa
Soccer Saturday analysis

Phil Thompson was left "astonished" as super sub Mamady Sidibe gave Stoke City their first Premier League win.

The Malian striker came off the bench to head home an injury-time winner and send the home fans wild after a topsy-turvy afternoon at the Britannia Stadium.

Tony Pulis' side cast off the memory of their opening day defeat and went ahead through a Liam Lawrence penalty just after the half-hour mark.

John Carew then levelled before Ricardo Fuller and Martin Laursen traded goals in the space of two minutes to leave both sides looking likely to claim a point.

But deep into injury time, the man from Mali got the faintest of touches to Rory Delap's long throw and all of a sudden the whipping boys had become the whooping boys.

"How it's finished 3-2 to Stoke is just astonishing!" Thompson told Soccer Saturday.

"Stoke didn't lie down and were still going in the 84th minute - and you just knew it was coming. Rory Delap launched the ball into the box and there was Mamady Sidibe with a back-header inside the six-yard box.

"It doesn't even look like he knows he's headed the ball, but it comes off the back of his head and trickles over the line. Then the crowd went absolutely berserk!"

Thompson was just as overjoyed at the sight of Fuller's second strike in as many weeks.

The Jamaican restored his side's lead with a virtuoso goal that made sure he and Sidibe overshadowed Carew and Villa's hat-trick hero last week, Gabriel Agbonlahor, in the battle of the frontmen.

"Aston Villa mainly had the possession but they were not really making any headway because Stoke defended deep and they defended better than last week. But when they broke, which they did, Ricardo Fuller scored a fantastic goal.

"Liam Lawrence passes it into him at inside right, he flicks it past Martin Laursen; Laursen doesn't set himself well, but it's a great flick and he knows what he's doing," he said.

"It was Dennis Bergkamp-like and he's on it, inside right, but the angle was poor yet he drives it across the keeper. It was a fantastic goal.

"It was Sidibe last week, Fuller this week, but completely different. This week I thought Fuller was outstanding. He took the responsibility of getting hold of the ball, certainly in the first half, and made it difficult for Villa.

"He wanted to go forward and he wanted to take that chance (for his goal). He could be the difference for them.

"Tony Pulis knows what they've got, so they have to work hard. They got back behind the ball and defended quite deep but they rolled their sleeves up and had a right go at times - that is all the fans expect - and if you do that you'll get results at home.

"The three teams that have come up will have to make their home games count and Stoke have done that today."