New Stoke City boss bemoans big decision in Hull City loss
New Stoke City head coach Narcis Pelach blamed fatigue - and the referee - for suffering a 3-1 defeat to Hull City on Friday night.
The Spaniard took charge of his first game as Potters boss after replacing Steven Schumacher on Wednesday and got off to a flying start when Ben Wilmot powered in a header after half an hour.
Things quickly turned sour in the second half for the hosts as City wrestled control of the contest and drew level when Kasey Palmer nodded in the rebound after his penalty was saved by Viktor Johansson, a decision Pelach disagreed with Stoke feeling Mohamed Belloumi was offside before being tripped by Eric Bocat.
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City made the Potters pay with two goals in two minutes late on when Regan Slater came off the bench to thump in the second and Palmer's cross deflected in off a combination of Wilmot and Johansson, sealing a first victory for Tim Walter.
“In the first 20 minutes we were on the front foot, we won some balls back up the pitch which was the game plan, because we knew they tried to pass a lot and play a lot of passes," he said.
“But we didn’t punish enough. We were 1-0 up and I was happy with the goal because it’s something we worked on in these two days, so I’m quite happy for the goal.
“Then we have a big chance that we have to score and the game is another story – 2-0 up after 25. Tom (Cannon) and Million (Manhoef), they need to finish this much better because they are good players and they can do it.
"I’m happy with this 30 minutes, I saw my team, what I want to try to create. The last 15 of the first half we lost control.
“Second half I’m not quite happy, but it’s thin lines, at the end of the day the first goal is offside and then we lost the ball and emotionally we lost a little bit.
“I have the feeling that we gave them the things. We worked hard in the first 30 minutes and then we gave two goals out of nothing, this is something we have to work on.”