Stoke boss Mark Hughes hailed Mame Biram Diouf's stunning winner after his side claimed a shock victory at Manchester City.
Diouf ran from deep inside his own half to nutmeg Joe Hart and hand the Potters 1-0 success over the Barclays Premier League champions at the Etihad Stadium.
It was a brilliant first goal in Stoke colours for the former Manchester United forward, who was signed on a free transfer from Hannover in the summer.
Hughes said: "We are really pleased for Mame. He is a striker and when you come to a new club you want to make an impression as quickly as possible and that means scoring goals.
"We could see he was going to give us something we didn't have last year, which was pace and power on the break.
"It was an outstanding goal and I hadn't realised until I saw it again how deep he picked the ball up.
"He kept on going and you always sensed he was going to go all the way and get a shot off. Thankfully there was enough power on it to beat Joe. It was fantastic goal to win any game."
Diouf might also have had a penalty in the first half when he appeared to be tripped by Aleksandar Kolarov and he went close to a second when he almost connected with a Peter Odemwingie cross.
Yaya Toure went closest for City when he hit the bar and the Ivorian also appealed for a penalty late on after a challenge by Erik Pieters, but he was instead booked for diving.
Hughes said: "Apparently people were saying it was a good call for a penalty.
"But I saw the one we should have had in the first half, which I felt was a good call.
"I am going to say they even themselves out. We scored a goal so we would have won anyway."
The victory was Stoke's first of the season and Hughes expects it to lift their campaign.
He said: "It was important. Either way, I always sensed this was a game that was going to kickstart our season."
Hughes, a former City boss, said the only personal satisfaction he took was in the importance of the victory for his side, as he had "no axe to grind" with the Eastlands club.
He added: "I was here as the manager and enjoyed that time. It didn't last as long as I thought it could have done, but there you go.
"You just move on to the next challenge. I am at a good club now."
City manager Manuel Pellegrini felt his side, who had started their title defence with comfortable wins over Newcastle and Liverpool, were off-colour.
The Chilean said: "I think we were a very patient team, we tried to create space but Stoke defended very well, and we couldn't create space.
"I think (in terms of) the attitude of the players, we did all we could do but it was a bad day for the creative players.
"It was too easy (for them) the way they scored the goal in a counter-attack, from a corner in their own box and he ran 70 metres to score.
"In these games it is very important to be patient but it is more important not to concede. They defended always with 10 strong players behind the ball."
Pellegrini was frustrated about the late penalty incident involving Toure but did not want to make a big issue of it.
He said: "What I think doesn't matter. I don't talk about the referee. All of you know it was a clear penalty. It doesn't matter. I don't want to analyse the game."
Pellegrini would not be drawn on reports linking City with a loan move for Monaco star striker Radamel Falcao before Monday's transfer deadline.
He said: "I am not talking about rumours. We have now 48 hours, we will see what happens.
"We have important restrictions about the amount of money we can spend and the number of players we can use, so it is not easy for us to bring important players."
Stoke were hopeful a knee injury suffered by Odemwingie was not serious while City midfielder Fernando was to have a groin problem assessed.
Source: PA
