Source: Daily_Mail
Tony Pulis Stoke City home form key in Europe
Stoke boss Tony Pulis feels home victories will be the key if his team are to progress from their Europa League group.[LNB]The Potters came from behind to win 2-1 against Besiktas on Thursday night at the Britannia Stadium, and following their 1-1 draw at Dynamo Kiev a fortnight ago, Pulis' men now lead Group E after two rounds of fixtures.[LNB]'There are only two games gone, so lets see where we are after six,' the Welshman said.[LNB] Philosophical: Tony Pulis isn't getting carried away despite Stoke's fine European start[LNB]'We've got to try to win our home games - that is very important, and it is a good start against a very good side.'[LNB]Pulis was delighted to see Stoke overcome their Turkish opponents, who he views as a 'massive danger' in their group.[LNB]Besiktas went ahead just before the quarter hour mark when Roberto Hilbert struck into the far corner having latched on to Ricardo Quaresma's pass, but their lead lasted only a minute, goalkeeper Rustu Recber unable to claim Dean Whitehead's corner and Peter Crouch on hand to bundle the ball over the line.[LNB]The two sides, roared on by their equally-vociferous sets of fans, played out an entertaining contest from there, with both hitting the woodwork.[LNB]Substitute Jon Walters then settled things in the 78th minute, hammering a penalty past Rustu after Crouch had been brought down by Tomas Sivok.[LNB] Goal heroes: Peter Crouch (left) and Jonathan Walters (right) both netted[LNB]Pulis had been to Istanbul on Sunday to watch Besiktas play and knew they were always going to pose a threat.[LNB]'They have some good players, and some of them that played here had been rested on Sunday,' Pulis said.[LNB]'We think they are a massive danger in this group, so we are very pleased with the result.[LNB]'I thought in the first half in patches they played very well, outnumbered us in midfield and moved the ball very quickly. At times we were chasing the ball.[LNB]'But in the second half we made some changes, pushed on a bit and caused them a few more problems.[LNB]'On another day we could have scored three or four goals.'[LNB] European debut: The Besiktas fans helped give the Britannia a noisy continental bow[LNB]Besiktas coach Carlos Carvalhal was unhappy with referee Antony Gautier's decision to award the spot-kick and also thought his side should have had a penalty of their own.[LNB]'Stoke won, but they were not the best team on the field - in my opinion, that was my team,' Carvalhal said.[LNB]'If you give a penalty in that situation, in these matches there will be 10 or 20 penalties, because players come together all the time.[LNB]'The officials also didn't see a handball in the area, and we are not comfortable with this.'[LNB]As far as Pulis was concerned, though, there was no debate to be had about the incident that led to the Potters' winner.[LNB]He said: 'I haven't seen it, but it is a penalty because the referee gave it.'[LNB] Swansea v STOKE: Etherington a slight doubt after limping out of Besiktas winStoke 2 Besiktas 1: Crouch and Walters drive Potter onwardsAll the latest Stoke City news, features and opinion[LNB]
