Stoke end Tottenham's Champions League hopes with emphatic win

Stoke eased to a 3-0 win over 10-man Tottenham at The Britannia Stadium to end the visitors’ faint hopes of finishing the season in the Champions League places.

The home side opened the scoring midway through the first-half when Charlie Adam headed Mame Biram Diouf’s deflected cross from the right beyond Hugo Lloris.

The Potters doubled their lead 10 minutes later when Lloris spilled a long ball into the path of Steven N’Zonzi, who finished confidently from a tight angle.

Tottenham showed brief signs of getting back into the game shortly after half time, but Vlad Chiriches’ second booking after 51 minutes, for a pull on Diouf, killed them off.

Diouf wrapped up the scoring with five minutes remaining, steering Marko Arnautovic's low cross in from a tight angle at the near post.

21' - GOAL! Stoke City 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Adam). Diouf does very well to get a cross in from the right-hand byline which Chirches can only nod across the box for Adam to steer a header home.

25’ – CROSSBAR! Lamela chips the ball into the Stoke area and Muniesa nods it onto his own crossbar, via a brilliant fingertip save from Jack Butland. Excellent goalkeeping.

32' - GOAL! Stoke City 2-0 Tottenam Hotspur. (N'Zonzi) Terrible defending from Spurs as a long ball forward is touched away from Lloris by Dier, causing the French goalkeeper to spill it out to N'Zonzi. It’s a narrow angle for the Frenchman but he slams it home confidently.

51’ - RED CARD! (Chiriches) Chiriches loses the ball to Diouf on the right and then hauls the striker back. Already on a yellow, the inevitable second booking means the Romanian is off.

85' - GOAL! Stoke City 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur. (Diouf) Diouf has the goal that he has deserved, steering Arnautovic's low cross in from a tight angle at the near post.

There have been seven red cards in the last seven Barclays Premier League games between Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur at the Britannia Stadium

Mame Biram Diouf has scored in four of his last five Premier League appearances at the Britannia Stadium.

Stoke have now equalled their record Premier League points total, matching last season’s total of 50.

Do Tottenham want to avoid the Europa League? Now that there is no chance of finishing in the Champions League places, many people feel Tottenham would be better off next season if they did not have to play in the Europa League. Is it possible that they might want to lose their remaining games?

Steven N’Zonzi (Stoke City): Aside from his first-half goal, the Frenchman dominated the midfield battle, playing his way out of pressure, winning the ball and driving forward excellently to set the tempo for his team.

Stoke City: Butland 7, Pieters 7, Muniesa 7, Cameron 7, Whelan 7, Arnautovic 8, NZonzi 9, Adam 8, Shawcross 7, Walters 7, Diouf 8. Subs: Ireland 7, Odemwingie N/A, Sidwell N/A.

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris 5, Dier 5, Chiriches 4, Fazio 5, Vertonghen 5, Bentaleb 5, Mason 6, Lamela 6, Eriksen 6, Chadli 6; Kane 6. Subs: Dembele 6, Soldado 5.