Rochdale 1 - 4 Stoke City

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Rochdale 1 - 4 Stoke City

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Premier League Stoke City proved too strong for Rochdale who went out of the FA Cup at the fourth round stage for the second year running.

Former Barcelona striker Bojan Krkic scored a stunning opener to give his side the lead but Dale rallied for the remainder of the half.

Rhys Bennett, Matt Done and Callum Camps all had chances to draw Dale level as they took the game to their loftier opponents.

Stoke netted just after the interval to quash any Dale comeback with goals later by Victor Moses and Jonathan Walters sealing their progression.

Rhys Bennett netted a consolation when the score was 3-0 to the visitors.

The Dale boss kept faith with the side that brushed Crawley to one side last weekend whilst Mark Hughes named his first choice starting 11 with the exception of Jack Butland starting in goal ahead of Asmir Begovic.

Stoke City, who are currently tenth in the English top flight, went in front through Bojan Krkic inside four minutes with a world class goal. The Spaniard volleyed an Olly Lancashire clearing header beyond Lillis in the Dale goal.

Bojan was involved in an unsavoury incident just before the half hour mark when he clashed with Dale’s Peter Vincenti. The Dale man put in a robust tackle on Moses which the visitors felt was unfair but referee Martin Atkinson deemed acceptable. Bojan decided to take matters into his own hands and appeared to kick out at Vincenti for failing to put the ball out of play. A mêlée broke out with both Vincenti and Krkic entering the referee’s notebook.

Krkic’s game was to end prematurely when he left the field looking in some discomfort after chasing down a loose ball before falling over holding his knee. The once £10 million player later left Spotland on crutches awaiting a scan.

Dale used the visitors disruption to their advantage as they tried to get back on terms. Bennett sent a snap shot wide but the best chance of the half fell to Done. Camps played a perfect ball through to the striker but with Butland quickly out, Done poked his shot wide.

Camps saw a snap shot easily saved as the visitors edged towards half time with their goal still intact although Mark Hughes’ animated behaviour on the sideline’s showed Dale had rattled their more illustrious opponents.

With a Hughes rollicking still ringing in their ears, Stoke doubled their advantage. Substitute Stephen Ireland fired home a Moses cross just seven minutes after the re-start.

Ten minutes later and it was 3-0 when Moses turned Rafferty before curling a wonderful shot into the far corner of the net from a very acute angle.

Dale’s Noble-Lazarus saw a dipping volley flash just over the bar.

Rhys Bennett gave the Dale faithful hope of a comeback on 77 minutes when he fired home from close range after Lancashire had latched onto the end of a Tanser free-kick.

Any hope of a Dale fightback was quashed in stoppage time when Austrian Marco Arnautovic crossed for Walters to seal the win.

Rochdale’s cup exploits were over for another season but they certainly weren’t embarrassed in front of the world’s media and the money earnt from the cup run will help with the stability of the club.

Attendance: 7,443

Rochdale: Lillis, Rafferty, Lancashire (c), Eastham, Tanser, Bennett, Dawson, Camps (Allen 63), Done (Andrew 55), Vincenti (Noble-Lazarus 58), Henderson
Subs: (not used) Diba, Rose, Logan, Bunney

Stoke City: Butland, Bardsley, Shawcross (c), Wollscheid, Wilson, Whelan, N’Zonzi (Sidwell 46), Arnautovic, Moses (Adam 75), Krkic (Ireland 32), Walters
Subs: (not used) Sorensen, Muniesa, Cameron, Crouch

Referee: Mr M Atkinson
Assistant Referees: Mr G Berwick & Mr J Collin
Fourth Official: Mr M Jones