Player and referee ratings for Stoke City v Southampton ahead of expected further apologies

Referee James Bell proved a consistent figure as injury-hit Stoke City failed at home against Southampton.
Stoke, who have received numerous apologies from the EFL this season for untaken penalties, can expect at least one, if not two more, for fouls against

Mehdi Leris and especially Nathan Lowe the rookie officially didn’t say Bell. That was after giving Southampton a free kick to take the lead at the end of

the first half. Although Josh Laurent was quite sleepy, he repelled Stuart Armstrong. Southampton’s players tried to clear the wall, then saw Armstrong fire a shot that went past everyone and into the top left corner, past the diving effort of Mark Travers.
Stoke fans were furious with Bell at the time, but it didn’t help that he only added a minute of stoppage time in a season where that figure was usually at

least four times higher. To emphasize this, he burst out early to deny a Stoke corner – and in the process, he booked Ki-Jana Hoever and, particularly

harshly, Ben Pearson for sliding tackles at middle of the street.
Corners were perhaps Stoke’s best chance of the first half, as nervous goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu seemed unappreciative of Daniel Johnson’s passes under

the crossbar.
There were a couple of chances in open play, as Lowe – making his full debut – headed on target after Sead Haksabanovic’s lovely effort to assist following

Hoever’s cross. Kyle Walker-Peters had to rush to attack Lowe after good play from Leris while Hoever made a series of crosses after reaching the touchline.
Hoever was tested in a different direction as Kamaldeen Sulemana took the opportunity to run with the ball, gaining the upper hand in the early

exchanges without being able to truly test Travers. Adam Armstrong fired a shot across the post as he also ran in from the right and the visitors looked dangerous moving quickly into the final third.
There could have been two early in the second half when Stuart Armstrong latched on to Adam Armstrong’s pass and headed past Luke McNally to

somehow clear his crossbar while Leris soon looked for a free-kick temple when he was pushed in the back. by Flynn Downes.
Sulemana forced Travers into a brilliant save after sliding past Hoever – and Wilmot, sliding in behind the keeper as extra protection, slid painfully

straight into the far post. A stretcher was called again for the midfielder, but he refused and hobbled very carefully into the tunnel. This left Stoke with an

experimental backline consisting of Tchamadeu at right-back, Jordan Thompson at left-back and Hoever and McNally in the middle – and Hoever soon had to make way so Leris had to step in at right-back .
They should have had a penalty almost immediately when Lowe was blocked by Johnson’s cross by Jan Bednarek. This was denied by Bell, who

increasingly angered and confused the local public. It would be a surprise and a shame for the EFL if he takes charge of a match again in the near future.
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The Potters recorded their first win in five league matches by coming from two goals down to beat Bristol City at Ashton Gate on Saturday.

The result leaves Will Smallbone’s former loan side 16th in the table, but comes on the same weekend that Russell Martin’s side ended their losing streak.

Saints beat Leeds United 3-1 at St Mary’s after being beaten in four consecutive matches.

Neil is ready