Matthew Etherington scored twice against his former club to hand Stoke City all three points against Tottenham Hotspur at the Britannia Stadium this afternoon.
Stoke had to withstand heavy pressure from visiting Spurs, who ended the match a man down following the dismissal of French centre-back Younes Kaboul.
The home side started the encounter the brighter of the two teams and took the lead after 13 minutes. The former Spurs duo of Peter Crouch and Etherington combined for the latter to shoot past Brad Friedel from close range.
In response Emmanuel Adebayor forced Stoke goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen into a save as Spurs began to dominate the match.
However, the next goal went to Stoke on the stroke of half-time. Ryan Shotton's long throw was flicked on by Jonathan Walters and Etherington was on hand to bundle in the loose ball.
The second half descended into one-way traffic, with Spurs forcing numerous saves from Sorensen to deny Luka Modric, Gareth Bale and Adebayor.
When they did manage to beat the Danish keeper, Ryan Shawcross was on hand to clear Kaboul's effort off the line, albeit with the use of his elbow, which was not spotted by referee Chris Foy.
With eight minutes remaining Harry Redknapp's Spurs were reduced to ten men when Kaboul was handed his second caution of the match for a foul on Walters.
Spurs continued to search for an avenue back into game but the hosts held firm to secure the win.
Redknapp's side remain third in the Premier League table, but they have missed the opportunity to close the gap on leaders Manchester City.
Liam Apicella
