Mark Hughes speaks out over Loic Remy diving incident after Stoke beat Chelsea

Hughes praised Remy for refusing to go down under Butland's challenge

STOKE manager Mark Hughes praised Chelsea striker Loic Remy for not diving to win a penalty that might have saved the defending champions a point.

 

Remy stumbled when goalkeeper Jack Butland came out to defend a one-on-one chance despite making no contact, then sent his shot wide when off balance.

"Credit to him [Remy] for that," said Hughes. "Time and time again you see players look to take a tumble. He could have been more cynical but he tried to score."

Stoke were already ahead through Marko Arnautovic but Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic revealed that manager Jose Mourinho did all the preparation before they got to the stadium due to his ban.

 

Matic said: "Stoke were lucky. We played good football but we didn't have any luck.

"We have deserved to lose some games but this was not the case and we deserved more. The team is together and everyone understands the situation we are in."

Former Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic confirmed Mourinho's last address was at the hotel and that the beleaguered boss had the backing of the players.

"We are behind him," he said. "Eventually this has to turn. Things just aren't going our way.

 

Remy tried to hurdle Butland, but stumble as he went to shoot

"We think he's the right man, we're just not giving him the results he needs."

Arnautovic struck with a decisive volley after Xherdan Shaqiri had set them up down the right with a ball of exquisite quality.

But there was no such good fortune for Chelsea striker Diego Costa, who has now gone 539 minutes without a goal.

 

He was at his aggressive worst on Saturday, at one point childishly mocking Stoke skipper Ryan Shawcross for having smelly armpits.

Costa was, however, victim of complete stupidity by a Stoke matchday steward, who unfathomably saw fit to file a complaint of assault against the striker, who appeared to lose balance and brush into him when bending down to retrieve the ball.

Chelsea quite rightly described the complaint as "nonsense" and the matter was later dropped.

STOKE (4-2-3-1): Butland 8; Johnson 8, Shawcross 8, Wollscheid 7, Pieters 8; Whelan 7, Adam 7 (Affalay, 78), Shaqiri 9 (Diouf 81), Bojan 7, Arnautovic 8, Walters 7 (Cameron 70, 6). Subs: Haugaard, Ireland, Wilson, Crouch. Booked: Johnson, Shawcross, Whelan. Goal: Arnautovic 53.

NEXT UP: Southampton (a), Saturday November 21, PL.

CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Begovic 7; Rahman 6 (Oscar 70, 6), Terry 7, Zouma 7, Azpilicueta 7; Matic 7, Ramires 7 (Remy 77), Hazard 9, Pedro 8 (Fabregas 70, 6), Willian 7, Costa 5. Booked: Rahman.

NEXT UP: Norwich (h), Saturday November 21, PL

Referee: A Taylor (Cheshire).