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What Stoke City hero did after full-time whistle says everything
Talking points from Ewood Park as Viktor Johansson-inspired Stoke City earn a 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers
stokesentinel
Viktor Johansson and teammates celebrate after Stoke win 2-0 at Blackburn.
Viktor Johansson and teammates celebrate after Stoke win 2-0 at Blackburn.
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Goals from Million Manhoef and Tom Cannon secured a first away win as Stoke City head coach for Narcis Pelach against Blackburn but that only tells half the story. Here are the talking points from Ewood Park.
If there is a bigger grin to be found in England than the one on Viktor Johansson’s face right now then we’ll be shocked. The keeper is loving life. He is showing he is one of the best in the business in the Championship, the agile stopper that Stoke have desperately needed for years and years, stopping shots you expect him to shot and ones you don’t. He bounces through games.
It was what he did after full-time that spoke volumes too. The Stoke team lined up to take a bow and cheer the away end but let the keeper have a moment to himself. He leapt once, twice and again, cheering madly as he went. It looked like he might actually jump into the stand at one point and he could probably crowd surf his way to Sweden on the arms of adoring Stoke supporters at the moment.
He is loved as much as he is loving it. A brilliant player and a fantastic character. A superb signing, perfect for Stoke and a huge difference maker. We’ll keep counting how many points he is earning for this side.
If he can keep them out… Stoke can score
Stoke can’t keep asking Johansson to make quite so many saves but if they can keep clean sheets, they have players on the pitch who can score even if they are quiet for the other 89 and a half minutes. John Eustace claimed the Blackburn had limited Stoke to few chances but, even if that was a bit of a politician’s suggestion, it didn’t really matter.
Million Manhoef might actually have had a hat-trick but that’s five goals for the season and he can twist and turn in tight areas.
Bae Junho can twist and turn too and he was able to link up play in central areas while Tom Cannon has three in three, whether two in two are penalties or not. No Stoke fan will underestimate a player who can score penalties. Lewis Koumas and Andrew Moran have goals in them too.
There have been recent times when you could look at the Stoke team and go and make a cup of tea when they were in the opposition half. That’s a welcome change.
Lewis Koumas in as Narcis Pelach manages Tatsuki Seko
Tatsuki Seko hadn’t played 90 minutes since July before the Southampton game. He was rewarded for his performance that night with a start against Derby but it was no surprise that he was on the bench at Blackburn after Pelach had dropped a heavy hint in his pre-match press conference.
“We have to be careful with Seko as well because he hasn’t played much and what we don’t want is injuries,” he said on Tuesday. “Injuries are something that can kill you and I prefer to be safe.”
Pre-match, Alex Morris was instead pointing towards what Stoke would gain from reintroducing Koumas.
He told Radio Stoke: “Lewis brings goals and he brings that attacking threat that we’ll need at the top end of the pitch. As everyone’s seen he’s a willing runner in behind. and when we’re playing this kind of opposition – we expect Blackburn to be a man to man team – the game can become quite open, it’s good to have players like this on the pitch because you can transition quickly and he can hurt defences with his pace and ability to get in behind.”
Ben Wilmot hopes to be back for Millwall
Ben Wilmot doesn’t miss many games unless he’s broken his back or crashed into a goalpost and he’ll be frustrated to have to watch two due to illness. There is hope and expectation that he’ll be back for the Millwall game on Saturday (12.30pm), however, and give Pelach options to think about in his back line at right-back or centre-half.
Morris said: “He’s recovering well. We had a look at him in the early part of the week and he’s getting better but he’s still not at the stage when he can compete in a game of football. It’s hit him quite hard, the nature of his illness, but the fact he’s not available tonight will give him an extra couple of days to be in contention for Saturday.”