Joe Allen and Wilfried Bony were pivotal in Stoke City’s win over Swansea City on Monday evening and their performances will give Potters’ fans real hope.
Could Joe Allen and Wilfried Bony form the dream duo?
Stoke City made easy work of Premier League strugglers Swansea City with a 3-1 win on Monday evening to take them up to 12th in the Premier League table,
The win sees the Potters almost complete their recovery from a very poor start to the Premier League campaign.
Joe Allen and Wilfriend Bony proved key for Stoke in their home win on Monday night with both players standing out against their former club.
Stoke City’s Wilfried Bony scores their first goal
Bony has struggled to get going at the Bet365 Stadium but this fine display offers hope that his Stoke career may now be ignited.
The Ivory Coast international has struggled to replicate the fine goal-scoring form he enjoyed during his time in South Wales but he certainly showed glimpses against his former employers on Monday night.
His natural goal-scoring instinct was shown in his two goals as he reacted brilliantly to punish Swansea from close range.
Stoke City’s Joe Allen in action with Swansea City’s Ki Sung Yueng
Both goals were set up by Swansea academy graduate Joe Allen who continued his fine run of form with two more assists. The 26-year-old carved open his former club on a number of occasions and managed two key passes to punish the visitors.
Allen has enjoyed an excellent six months or so having earned high praise during Wales’ successful Euro 2016 campaign, and then following that up with some fine form for Stoke.
Allen has scored five in his last six for club and country.
When Allen and Bony were snapped up by Stoke, the supporters will have foreseen the perfect partnership which was on show tonight. It’s taken some time to come to fruition but Mark Hughes may well have a dream duo on his hands.
Stoke City’s Wilfried Bony and Joe Allen during the warm up
Having a midfielder who can thread a pass through the eye of a needle and a striker who rarely needs a second invitation to find the net is something any manager dreams of, and if Stoke can utilise that, then they’ll send many of their opponents home disappointed this season.
Last night’s win shot Stoke up to 12th in the Premier League table and 11 points from a possible 15 means their bad start is now far behind them.
If Mark Hughes can keep his men in this kind of confident form and get the best out of Allen and Bony, then with the individual talent elsewhere on the pitch, Stoke could be in for a memorable season after-all.
Stoke City’s Wilfried Bony with Stoke City manager Mark Hughes after he is substituted
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