Alex Neil expressed his delight at Stoke’s home comforts as they defeated Watford 1-0.
New hero Andre Vidigal starred again as he notched his fourth goal in as many games since a summer move from Maritimo.
The Portuguese winger – who turned 25 in midweek – fired in a second-half winner with an emphatic strike on the volley.
And, in the process, The Potters secured successive league victories at home for the first time since April 2022, while they also beat West Brom in the cup.
“We’ve now won three games on the bounce at home and I think that’s vitally important to get our fans onside and backing us,” Neil said.
“You can see that connection starting to happen because the fans can see that the players left everything on the pitch so I’m really pleased.
“Watford are a really good side and they’ll be at the top end of the division for me so we knew it was going to be tough.
“In the main, we contained them really well, defensively we were sound and we got a goal that changed the dynamic of the game.
“You could see today that we were good in both boxes in terms of that final strike to get a goal and when we needed Travers at the other end.”
Neil also praised the in-form Vidigal, who continues to impress on English soil.
“The biggest thing about Andre is that he’s equally comfortable playing off the left, off the right or as a centre forward.
“He’s always going to get chances, he’s always looked a threat and he actually could’ve had more with the chances he’s had.
“He’s got that unbelievable knack of landing in the right position and getting strikes away and he just wants to score.
“He said to me at half-time, ‘Don’t worry, I’m going to score!’ and then he did so fair play to him.”
Meanwhile, Watford’s unbeaten league start under new boss Valerien Ismael comes to an end.
Substitute Yaser Asprilla spurned two glorious opportunities to open the scoring and then level late on, but the Colombia international failed to convert.
“Our performance in the first half was not good enough and we didn’t stick to our gameplan,” Ismael admitted.
“We created chances but it wasn’t enough and we weren’t present in the basics.
“If you are not having a good day, at least make sure you get the basics right and we didn’t do that.
“That’s what I said at half-time and in the second half we came out much better, but we conceded a goal in our best period of the game.
“We created a lot of chances after that so at least we saw our identity, but it’s a journey in this division.
“The players need to learn that the Championship is ruthless and every game you’ve got to be on it and if you think it is going to be easy you will be punished like today.
“We will learn from the game and make sure from the beginning we are ready to compete, especially in away games.
“You can lose games, I don’t mind, but at least I want to see the identity and the mentality in the players, and I missed it in the first half.
“What we deserve is the criticism that we didn’t perform for 90 minutes.”
Al-Ittihad pegged back as winless run rolls on
Mohamed Sherif scored late on as Al-Ittihad's winless run in the Saudi Pro League stretched to four games after a 1-1 draw with Al-Khaleej.
Al-Ittihad have endured a miserable title defence, and with just two games remaining, the highest the big-spending, PIF-backed club can finish is fourth.
Muhannad Al Shanqiti put them ahead on the stroke of half-time, yet despite having a further eight shots and accumulating 1.07 xG in the second half, Al-Ittihad could not add another.
Their profligacy proved costly in the 81st minute, with Egypt international Sherif snatching an equaliser for 11th-placed Al-Khaleej.
Al-Tai moved out of the relegation zone with a surprise 3-1 win over seventh-placed Al-Fateh, with Bernard Mensah scoring twice.
Al-Raed, meanwhile, claimed a 1-0 win at Al-Wehda.
Data Debrief: Kante the creator?
On the day he received a surprising France recall, N'Golo Kante created three chances for Al-Ittihad, leading the team.
On the flip side, Kante only attempted one tackle, with the midfielder showing a different side to his game, not that it proved fruitful for his team.
Leeds United 4-0 Norwich City (4-0 agg): Whites book Wembley spot in emphatic fashion
Leeds United thumped Norwich City 4-0 in the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final to seal their place at Wembley.
After a goalless draw in the first leg left it all to play for at Elland Road on Thursday, Leeds turned on the style in front of a raucous home crowd to cruise into the final on May 26.
Ilia Gruev settled the majority of Elland Road's nerves with just seven minutes played as he caught out Angus Gunn with a long-range free-kick, curling into the space vacated by the Norwich goalkeeper's expectation of a cross.
Joel Piroe then doubled the hosts' advantage 13 minutes later, again capitalising on poor goalkeeping to beat Gunn to Wilfried Gnonto's cross and nod home.
The tie was effectively over five minutes from half-time, Georginio Rutter getting on the end of Crysencio Summerville's squared pass to rifle off the underside of the crossbar and in.
And after Gunn spilled Gnonto's low shot in the second half, Rutter cut the ball back for Summerville to poke home and secure Leeds' place in next Sunday's final, where they will meet either Southampton or West Brom.
Data debrief
Leeds may have looked pretty blunt in attack at Carrow Road, but that was far from the case on home soil as they put the Canaries to the sword in brutal fashion while keeping a 21st Championship clean sheet this season, more than any other side.
Daniel Farke's men produced 2.45 xG (expected goals) to Norwich's 0.51, while Summerville made it 20 league goals for the season, more than any other Leeds player.
Ronaldo motivated to keep playing at top level
Cristiano Ronaldo has no intention of stopping as he says he is still motivated to compete with the "young lions" coming through in the game.
Ronaldo is reportedly considering signing a contract extension to keep him at Al-Nassr until June 2026, taking him past his 41st birthday.
The Portugal international has scored 42 goals in 41 appearances for the Saudi Pro League club this season, and he insists he is still motivated to keep going.
Speaking on the Whoop podcast, he said: "I feel proud to have this age and still compete at the highest level. It's great, and it gives me motivation to carry on.
"If you look at my career for the last 20 years, my level is high. If you are top for 20 years, it's unbelievable.
"I do that, and I continue to do that. For me, it's a big achievement."
Ronaldo has scored an incredible 891 goals in his career and is the all-time leading scorer in men’s international football with 128 goals.
"My biggest motivation is to carry on," he added. "It's not easy to be at this level.
"To still push, to still motivate, to carry on, to score goals, to be in good shape, to compete with the young lions that are coming and that when they play against me, they want to show me that they are stronger and faster than me.
"You have to prepare very well, not just physically but mentally, too. This is the challenge.
"Talent without work is nothing and work without talent is nothing. They have to work together at the same time. I have both. I can't say that I have more of one than the other.
"Small details will make the difference. Consistency is the most difficult thing.
"Are you willing to do that? That's the main point, because everyone wants to be Cristiano, but doing it is difficult. Discipline is the most difficult thing."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
