Two goals from Marko Arnautovic have earned Stoke City a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa at the Britannia Stadium.
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It was bottom side Villa who started the brighter of the two teams, although Stoke almost went ahead in fortuitous circumstances after a cross from Ibrahim Afellay was deflected towards goal by Jores Okore, but Mark Bunn was able to tip the ball over the crossbar.
The remainder of the opening period saw both teams limited to speculative efforts from outside the box, with Carles Gil wasting opportunities for Villa and Xherdan Shaqiri curling a free kick wide for Stoke.
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In first-half stoppage time, Villa did create a clearer chance through Jordan Veretout, but after beating Geoff Cameron, he dragged his shot wide of the far post.
Villa needed to maintain their resilience after the restart, but the game was effectively over as a contest 11 minutes later as Arnautovic netted twice in quick succession.
The opener came from the spot after Ashley Westwood had brought down Phil Bardsley, with the Serbian making no mistake with a driven effort down the centre.
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Five minutes later, the winger benefited from a floated cross from Shaqiri causing confusion at the back post, and he was left with the simple task of nodding home from three yards with Bunn caught in the net.
Stoke had opportunities to make it three, with Bardsley forcing a save out of Bunn from distance, but with 11 minutes remaining, Villa halved the deficit through Leandro Bacuna, who produced a composed finish past Jack Butland after being teed up by Rudy Gestede.
Gestede had one late chance for the visitors, glancing wide from a Scott Sinclair cross, but Stoke held on for what was a deserved win which moves them into eighth position in the table.
Villa, on the other hand, remain eight points from safety with just 11 games remaining.
Darren Plant
