Stoke 0 Tottenham 1 match report: Danny Rose proves a thorn in Stoke’s side

Spurs defender scores winner, gets blame for Shawcross dismissal and is lucky to escape red card

Danny Rose found himself cast in the role of hero and villain as Tottenham arrested the slide in their away form with a first win on the road since their 4-0 triumph over Newcastle on Tyneside in February.

The 23-year-old left-back scored the only goal after 33 minutes of the opening half but was the target of prolonged booing from the home crowd after Stoke’s captain Ryan Shawcross was sent off seven minutes into the second half when a foul on Rose brought him a second yellow card.

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The booing only intensified after Rose escaped with a booking after an aggressive confrontation with Geoff Cameron in which he pushed the Stoke player away. Eventually, Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood substituted him for his own protection.

“I felt I had to take him off to defuse the situation,” Sherwood said. “I’ve never heard a crowd so hyped up. My heart was in my mouth when he made the push because he has forced the referee to make a decision and he shouldn’t be putting himself in that position.

“I’ve told him that. But he is smiling now because he has scored the winning goal and we haven’t been reduced to 10 men.”

Shawcross was booked in the first half for a body check on Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen and the referee, Andre Marriner, showed him a second yellow for a high tackle on Rose that left the defender clutching his leg just below the right knee.

It looked difficult to argue with the decision but Stoke fans took the view that Rose’s reaction had influenced Marriner, whose red card tally for the season now stands at 13, the highest in the Premier League.

They may have also felt that the Birmingham official, who last month wrongly sent off Arsenal’s Kieran Gibbs for a goal-line handball against Chelsea committed by team-mate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, was remiss in not spotting an incident early in the match when Shawcross came off worse in a tussle with Emmanuel Adebayor in which the Tottenham player appeared to use an elbow.

With typical honesty, Sherwood said he felt Marriner was right to show Shawcross a second yellow, though he would not have complained if the Stoke captain had not been dismissed. “Listen, I like tackling and I don’t want anyone to get sent off,” he said. “But it was two bookings and what can you do? If he hasn’t been sent off, though, I wouldn’t be screaming.”

Stoke’s manager, Mark Hughes, came up with a somewhat different appraisal and made no apology for describing Marriner’s performance as “poor”. He said: “Danny Rose is a good player and he has got in front of the ball as Ryan has gone for it and it is a foul, but that’s all. He has played on for five, ten seconds and then brought it back and deemed it worthy of a yellow card.

“Whether he’s forgotten that he’s booked Ryan early on – and if he has for a senior referee that’s a little bit poor – he should have had time to realise he was giving a second yellow and a sending-off, which to my mind is harsh on Ryan.

“Andre Marriner is a top referee but I have to say I felt his performance today was poor. Maybe his confidence is a bit low having been involved in a few games where his performance has been highlighted because he has frustrated us on a few occasions today, not least with the boy Rose. He raises his hands, everybody knows that is a clear straight red and he gets a yellow card.”

The goal came after a strong run by Adebayor, who got the better of Glenn Whelan on the right chipping the ball from the by-line towards the far post, where Rose benefited from Cameron losing his footing to head home. It was his first Premier League goal for Tottenham since he scored against Arsenal on his debut in April 2010. Stoke produced most of the chances but were up against a Tottenham defence that showed determination and character, with centre backs Michael Dawson and Younes Kaboul both outstanding.

Line-ups:

Stoke City (4-1-2-3): Begovic; Cameron, Shawcross, Wilson, Muniesa; Whelan; Nzonzi, Ireland (Pieters, 55); Odemwingie, Crouch (Assaidi, 61), Arnautovic.

Tottenham (4-4-2): Lloris; Naughton, Kaboul, Dawson, Rose (Fryers, 69); Lennon (Townsend, 78), Paulinho, Chadli (Sigurdsson, 73), Eriksen; Kane, Adebayor.

Referee: Andre Marriner.

Man of the match: Kaboul.

Match rating: 6/10.