Gary Rowett was able to celebrate victory against his former club as goals from Sam Clucas and Tom Ince earned 10-man Stoke a 2-1 win over local rivals Derby in an ill-tempered Championship clash at the bet365 Stadium.
Midfielder Clucas opened the scoring midway through the first-half for Stoke, who had Peter Etebo sent off before the break for a challenge on Richard Keogh.
Frank Lampard's visitors were level five minutes following on from the restart when Harry Wilson struck a curled free-kick.
Clucas then turned provider for the Potters winner, crossing for former Derby man Ince to finish from inside the penalty area with 25 minutes to play, which earned three points for boss Rowett against the club he left in May.
Derby engineered the first chance of within eight minutes when midfielder Tom Lawrence profited from Ryan Shawcross giving the ball away cheaply to force goalkeeper Jack Butland into a low stop from his long-range drive.
The Potters led on 24 minutes when Joe Allen slotted a ball through for Clucas, who galloped through unmarked to guide his right-footed shot under Carson.
Rowett's men were then reduced to 10 men with 33 minutes played when Etebo was dismissed by referee Darren England for a rash tackle on Keogh, which sparked a coming together between the two players, in which Bradley Johnson appeared to have Allen's shirt in his mouth.
Searching for a leveller, Lawrence's powerful strike zipped off the turf which was thwarted by Butland before the Rams lost their captain Curtis Davies towards half-time, who was stretchered off after falling awkwardly.
As the second half got underway in rain-soaked Staffordshire, Jack Marriott's flick at the front post from Scott Malone's cross from the left was kept out by Butland as Derby aimed for a route back into the game.
On 50 minutes, Wilson's free-kick brought County level, with the Liverpool loanee planting the ball beyond Butland's desperate dive into the left corner of the net in front of their jubilant sold-out away following.
But Stoke regained their lead after 65 minutes when Clucas' low cross from the left was met by Ince to beat Carson, with his shot from close-range finding the bottom left-corner.
Chasing an equalising goal late into the game, Butland tipped Lawrence's dipping effort over the crossbar, as Stoke hung on to move up to 12th in the second-tier, while Derby dropped to seventh.
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