West Bromwich Albion defeated Stoke City 1-0 at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.
Tony Pulis returned to Staffordshire for the first time with Albion and came away with all three points as Mark Hughes' Potters played an hour of the contest with nine men.
Ibrahim Afellay was sent off in the 25th minute for raising his hand to Crag Gardner's face before Charlie Adam was also given his marching orders for a subtle stamp on Craig Dawson.
Salomon Rondon opened his Baggies account with a fine header across Jack Butland from Rickie Lambert's lofted cross in stoppage time of the first half.
The win was Albion's first of the season and lifted them to 15th on the Premier League table with Stoke falling to 18th having registered just two points thus far.
MATCH OVERVIEW
Stoke City: 0 (red cards: Ibrahim Afellay 25', Charlie Adam 31')
West Bromwich Albion: 1 (Salomon Rondon 45+3')
Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent - 26,747
TALKING POINTS
- Have Stoke dropped off from last season or have they been unlucky thus far?
- Rondon has looked lively so far. Can he deliver for Albion after they spent a club-record £12m?
WHAT'S NEXT?
Stoke will hope to bounce back when they head to Arsenal after the international break as West Brom look to strong two wins together when they host Southampton.
TWITTER INSIGHT
big shift from everyone, and the fans too! never easy with 10 let alone 9 but lads were brilliant! #SCFC
— Jack Butland (@JackButland_One) August 29, 2015MATCHWINNER: A delighted @salorondon23 after scoring his first Albion goal this afternoon #WBApic.twitter.com/gPNe0ZPwcp
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBAFCofficial) August 29, 2015
QUOTES CORNER
Stoke boss Hughes on being reduced to nine men:
"The referee should have just taken a big, deep breath and thought about the game itself and all the people here hoping to see a good football match."
West Brom's Pulis on the warm welcome he received at the Britannia:
"It was a wonderful reception. They are a special lot, it is a special club and it will always be close to me and the family. We spent a lot of time here."
STATS SPECIALS
*Thanks to Opta
31 - Stoke's two red cards in 31 minutes is the third fastest a team has been reduced to nine men in Premier League history. Raucous.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 29, 201529 - Stoke have conceded fewer fouls than any other Premier League team this season. Curious.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 29, 2015
TEAM LEADERS
STOKE
Goals - Mame Biram Diouf 2
Assists - Stephen Ireland, Xherdan Shaqiri 1
Yellow cards - Erik Pieters 2
Red cards - Ibrahim Afellay, Charlie Adam 1
WEST BROM
Goals - James Morrison 2
Assists - Salomon Rondon, Callum McManaman, Rickie Lambert 2
Clean sheets - Boaz Myhill 2
Yellow cards - Rickie Lambert, Craig Gardner 2
