Manager of Stoke City Mark Hughes has credited the performance of Wolverhampton Wanderers shot stopper Carl Ikeme as part of this reason why his team suffered a shock cup exit.
Championship side Wolves dumped their elite opponents right in front of their fans with strike from Helder Costa and Matt Doherty, but Hughes believes his side were denied by Ikeme’s brilliance between the sticks for Wolves.
” You need luck, their keeper (Ikeme) made several saves, but ultimately we weren’t good enough on the day and we have to give them credit”, Hughes said after the game.
Ikeme had a quiet first half when his team were leading 1-0, but expectedly had a lot to do in the second half as Stoke push for an equaliser to force the tie into a replay.
His first major save of note was from Arnautovic 15 yard effort which he did well to push wide with a strong pair of hands, before producing another top class save to deny Affelay with a full range dive.
Joe Allen was next to try his luck with a long range effort but just Ikeme was once again to deny him with another top class save, moments before his team’s second
goal of the game.
