Relieved Huth gets himself off the hook

STOKE’S match-winner Robert Huth was a relieved man after his two goals against Sunderland cancelled out the errors he made at the other end of the pitch in their 3-2 victory at the Britannia Stadium.

The German centre-back was caught napping when Kieran Richardson fired home Asamoah Gyan’s bungled shot in the second minute, and just after half-time he was culpable in allowing the Ghana striker to turn him in the penalty area to make it 2-1.

However, after John Carew’s first-half equaliser, Huth used all his physical presence in the Sunderland box to convert two Jermaine Pennant free-kicks in the last seven minutes, with the winner coming three minutes into added time.