Josh Laurent scored a brace to help Stoke City produce one of the most comfortable football scores of the weekend in the Championship. Laurent’s first-half double and substitute Lewis Baker’s stoppage-time third moved Stoke up to 17th in the Sky Bet Championship. Morgan Whittaker gave Swansea the perfect start inside two minutes, but Russell Martin’s side ran out of ideas before Baker added the icing to Stoke’s first away league win since December 17, as Swansea remain in 12th place. The two clubs, who were both relegated from the Premier League in 2018, have struggled to establish a winning formula in the Championship in recent months. Swansea had three triumphs in 16 games, while Stoke’s recent record was just barely better – three wins in 12 games.
Wales manager Rob Page was present, with Swansea midfielder Ollie Cooper on his radar ahead of the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Croatia and Latvia next month. Cooper made an immediate impact with a driving run that resulted in a foul on Ryan Manning. Whittaker, making his first league start for Swansea since May 2021, chested down Matty Sorinola’s feed and shot home off the underside of the crossbar after Stoke failed to clear the subsequent free-kick. Laurent equalized after 15 minutes, bundling home from close range after some pinball in the Swansea penalty area. Laurent was celebrating again four minutes later after Tyrese Campbell had sliced the ball back into his path. He was absolutely unnoticed 15 yards out and made no errors.
Matija Sarkic’s one-handed save denied Joel Piroe an equalizer, and the Stoke goalkeeper later saved a Manning effort as home pressure mounted. In 31 minutes, Swansea manager Martin made a tactical change, replacing center defender Harry Darling with midfielder Olivier Ntcham and switching to a four-man defense. Initially, the strategy appeared to have little impact, as Dwight Gayle forced Andy Fisher into a double save at his near post. Stoke, on the other hand, was split open when Matt Grimes, Cooper, and Manning combined to create an opportunity that Whittaker sidefooted wide. Ben Wilmot, a former Swansea loanee, had a chance to punish his previous club but sent a free header over from a few yards out.
For more football scores, click here
