Stoke 3-0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv: Potters thump visitors as Cameron Jerome scores and sees red as both sides finish with 10 men

Cameron Jerome had a busy night, picking up a goal and a red card, as Stoke City cruised to a 3-0 win over Maccabi Tel-Aviv to stay top of their Europa League group.

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Kenwyne Jones and Ryan Shotton also scored before Jerome was dismissed for a second bookable offence just before half time. Maccabi’s man advantage was short-lived, however, as Yoav Ziv was sent off for bizarrely kicking his boot at the assistant referee ten minutes into the second half.

Tony Pulis made seven changes to the side that beat Fulham 2-0 at the weekend, Ryan Shawcross, Matthew Upson, Marc Wilson and Matthew Etherington survived the cull, with Jonathan Walters and Peter Crouch replaced in attack by Jerome and Jones. Maccabi left top scorer Roberto Colautti on the bench, opting to start with young duo Eliran Atar and Moussa Konate in attack.

The visitors started positively, looking comfortable in possession with Bosnian midfielder Haris Medunjanin at the heart of their play. As Stoke began to get a grip on the game, however, the Israeli side’s vulnerabilities were quickly made clear.

Shotton, a defender playing out of position, battled to create space to the right of the Maccabi penalty area and swung over a left footed cross that Etherington, completely unmarked, could not quite catch cleanly.

Like Rory Delap, Shotton possesses a throw-in somewhat resemblant of a cross and after the Etherington chance had been cleared he had his first opportunity to launch one in. The Maccabi defending was non-existent, Jerome headed first on to the bar and then at goalkeeper Guy Haimov with Huth just held off a third chance to convert.

Stoke did not have to wait much longer for the breakthrough. From the resulting corner, Jones rose totally unmarked in the six-yard box and headed past Haimov.

From there the game descended into a non-contest. Jerome doubled the lead after yet more shambolic set-piece defending from Maccabi, heading Etherington’s free-kick home unchallenged.

Maccabi enjoyed a rare break up field when Konate broke away down the left-hand side but the young Senegalese forward’s lack of decisiveness cost him as he shot tamely at a Stoke defender, much to the fury of Atar.

Any possibility of an unlikely comeback was eradicated moments later when Haimov’s goal kick was headed inadvertently into the path of Jerome. The former Birmingham City man was denied but recovered to set up Shotton, who shot past the stranded Haimov.

If things seemed to be going just a little too perfectly for Stoke, they were brought back down to earth just before half-time. Jerome had relished the physical battles taking place in the channels and around the penalty area but a little over-enthusiasm had seen him booked earlier on. When his stray elbow then caught Ziv, Potters supporters were left stunned as referee Anastassios Kakos produced a second yellow card.

Ziv’s remonstrations with Pulis and other members of the Stoke bench following the incident succeeded in making him deeply unpopular with the, as ever, vociferous home crowd.

It was all going so well | Jerome nods in before seeing red later

The boos continued into the second half until Ziv, evidently a colourful character, followed Jerome down the tunnel in bizarre fashion.

The left-back lost his boot after a tackle from Shotton and proceeded to kick it directly at the assistant referee in frustration after no free kick was awarded. Ziv did immediately apologise - but Kakos was unimpressed and brandished a straight red card.

Stoke had been happy to let Maccabi dictate the play until that point, but the parity in numbers allowed the Potters to proceed forward with more success. Jones was inches away from extending the lead when he headed Shotton’s cross just wide of the post.

The Trinidad and Tobago international was then denied by Haimov late on but Sorensen remained almost completely untested as Stoke’s European unbeaten run rolled on with ease and they stay top of Group E.