Stoke City 2-1 Fleetwood Town
- Published
- comments
Tom Ince was an unused substitute for Stoke's opening game of the season
Sam Surridge scored his second goal in two games since joining as Stoke City edged past Fleetwood Town to move into the second round of the EFL Cup.
Surridge, who grabbed the winner against Birmingham City on his Championship debut on Saturday, calmly slotted home the opening goal late in the first half after great work by Tom Ince, who excelled playing in an unfamiliar wing-back role.
The goal was the first attempt on target and League One Fleetwood offered very little in response, finishing the match with just two efforts on target.
Stoke sealed victory with just over 10 minutes remaining when Harry Souttar headed in from close range from Mario Vrancic's cross.
James Chester's own goal four minutes into injury-time brought hope for the visitors when he deflected substitute Callum Morton's cross into his own net, but the result was never in doubt.
The home side had the better of a game lacking much goalmouth excitement with Jacob Brown heading wide early on, Jordan Thompson going close with a free-kick and Ince sending a rasping shot wide.
Surridge rewarded the home side's extra attacking threat when he blasted the ball into the top corner and, after the break, Souttar's header proved the winner in the first-ever meeting between the two clubs.