Stoke City 2 Aston Villa 1: match report Villa were the better team in the first half and even without Benteke, who has gone nearly 12 hours without a goal and missed this game with a knee problem, showed attacking intent from the start. Asmir Begovic saved from Nathan Baker and Aleksandar Tonev while Villa were convinced Stoke defender Marc Wilson should have been sent off for a challenge on Andreas Weimann outside the penalty area. Geoff Cameron almost gave Stoke a 37th minute lead with a wind-assisted cross from the right that was arcing towards the far corner until Brad Guzan tipped the ball over the bar. But the introduction of Adam lightened up a tedious affair and the midfielder took only five minutes to make an impact, seizing upon Crouch's flick to turn Baker and slide the ball past Guzan. Craig Pawson, the referee, became busier as frustration increased, booking Fabian Delph for a dreadful challenge on Crouch. Villa were level on 66 minutes after an inexplicable error from Erik Pieters, as the Dutch defender attempted a headed backpass to Begovic but only succeeded in presenting Libor Kozak with a simple finish from eight yards. But Stoke inched ahead again four minutes later after Cameron's cross eluded the Villa defence and Guzan to find Crouch who could not miss. Crouch did miss shortly after, though, when he flicked Pieters's header against the post as Villa's defence went awol while at the other end Begovic saved impressively from Kozak. Villa never looked like finding an equaliser after that chance and now have two home games in a row to avoid repeating their disastrous festive form of last year. Match report Stoke (4-5-1): Begovic; Cameron, Shawcross, Wilson, Pieters; Walters, Nzonzi, Arnautovic (Adam half-time), Whelan, Assaidi (Pennant 72); Crouch. Subs (not used): Sorensen (gk), Muniesa, Palacios, Jones, Wilkinson. Booked: Wilson Aston Villa (4-4-2): Guzan; Lowton, Herd, Baker, Clark; Albrighton (Bacuna 81), Westwood, Delph, Tonev (Bowery 67); Weimann, Kozak. Subs (not used): Steer (gk), El Ahmadi, Helenius, Luna, Sylla. Booked: Albrighton, Clark, Delph, Herd. Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)