As the minutes ticked down, the raucous travelling Aston Villa supporters launched into a chorus of: “And now you’re going to believe us, we are going to win the league.”
They are not and they know it. If they had been polled beforehand, the chances are that many would have predicted the campaign would culminate in relegation.
While their counterparts elsewhere are imbued with optimism before the start of the season, pessimism has become part of Villa’s identity.
It rendered this win all the more unexpected and, for them, all the more enjoyable. As Stoke City had lost only three times at home and Villa won only four away last season, and as Stoke had strengthened rather more than their fellow Midlanders, all the omens seemed to suggest a seventh successive away defeat for Paul Lambert’s side.
Instead, Andreas Weimann struck to give his side a 1-0 win on Saturday and ensure the opening-day shocks were not just confined to Old Trafford. "We were outstanding," Lambert said.
The context made it more surprising. Villa have been short of funds and hope alike. Their summer recruitment policy has been based around free-transfer recruits whose best days are behind them.
Owner Randy Lerner’s time at Villa would be consigned to the past, too, but he could not find a buyer.
One consequence is that the unpopular manager, Lambert, remains in a job. It is cheaper not to dismiss him, as many supporters wish Villa would.
The only sprinkling of stardust came from the arrival of Roy Keane as assistant manager. Pointedly, the Villa fans who hope he replaces Lambert chorused the newcomer’s name, rather than the manager’s.
The overlooked Lambert said: “Roy has been brilliant, a massive help.”
Lambert has been forced to recall the big earners he had bombed out. Alan Hutton made his first Villa appearance in 27 months, but their other right-sided player, Weimann, was the match winner.
His was the scrappiest of goals. “We were probably guilty of consecutive errors,” Stoke manager Mark Hughes said. “Inevitably, goals come at the end of three or four mistakes.”
Two of his defenders played inadvertent roles, Erik Pieters accidentally redirecting the ball to Weimann and Marc Wilson, with an attempted challenge, returning it to him. Goalkeeper Asmir Begovic was also culpable. He got a hand to Weimann’s shot but was unable to keep it out.
At least his attempt was accurate. Gabriel Agbonlahor had spurned a glorious chance to put Villa ahead in the first half. With Begovic stranded out of his goal after a breakdown in communications with Wilson, debutant Kieran Richardson picked out Agbonlahor.
He missed the unguarded target. The only mitigation was that Ryan Shawcross was making a desperate attempt to challenge him.
“It is a wake-up call for us,” Hughes said. “There was a lot of expectation. We need to be better than we were today.”
Stoke's chances, and they tended to be half-chances, revolved around Bojan Krkic, whose arrival from Barcelona is a sign of the shift in Stoke's ethos. "He showed glimpses in some situations," said Hughes. "We need to be able to find him in those areas more often."
There were neat touches, hints of Krkic’s ability to ghost into space, a shot that ended up in the side-netting and others that were blocked by the Villa rearguard.
“I thought the back four were outstanding,” Lambert said.
They were also strangers. Ron Vlaar had barely featured in pre-season matches because of his World Cup exploits in Brazil with the Netherlands.
Hutton came in from the cold and Philippe Senderos and Aly Cissokho debuted. It is not the logical formula for success, but they excelled, individually and collectively.
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