Sherwood suffers painful start as Stoke snatch late win
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Tim Sherwood`s reign as Aston Villa manager started in painful fashion as Stoke City snatched a late 2-1 win at Villa Park on Saturday.
The hosts had taken the lead through Scott Sinclair`s first-half goal, but Mame Diouf equalised just before the break and Victor Moses ensured Sherwood`s debut would end in frustration when he converted a penalty three minutes into stoppage time after Villa defender Ron Vlaar was sent off.
The dispiriting defeat dropped Villa to second bottom of the Premier League and left them without a win in 11 league games after a woeful run of six successive defeats.
Sherwood`s decision to head down from the stands and deliver a half-time team-talk, even though he hadn`t officially taken charge at the time, had inspired an FA Cup fifth-round win over Leicester City last weekend.
He was greeted warmly by the Villa faithful as he took his seat on the bench before kick-off after naming an attacking line-up featuring Gabriel Agbonlahor, Christian Benteke and Sinclair.
Villa seemed energised by Sherwood`s presence and took the lead in the 20th minute when Fabian Delph`s cross picked out Sinclair, who rose to glance a header into the top corner for his first Premier League goal since August 2012.
It was a second goal in successive appearances for Sinclair, signed on loan from Manchester City by the much-maligned Lambert, after he also netted in the Cup win over Leicester and his latest effort prompted a fist-jumping jig of delight from Sherwood on the touchline.
But Mark Hughes was furious after Stoke`s FA Cup fifth-round thrashing at second-tier Blackburn Rovers last weekend and his players mounted a strong response to get back in favour with their manager.
Moses tested Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan with a stinging drive and their pressure was rewarded when Senegal forward Diouf equalised on the stroke of half-time with a powerful header from Stephen Ireland`s cross.
Sinclair`s goal had been Villa`s only shot on target in the first half and Sherwood didn`t take long to make a change after a lethargic start to the second period.
Austrian forward Andreas Weimann was sent on to replace Carles Gil, but it was Stoke who won in dramatic fashion.
Vlaar`s poor touch allowed Moses to steal the ball and burst into the area, where he was hacked down by the Villa defender.
That brought a red card for Vlaar and Nigerian winger Moses added insult to injury as he slotted home the spot-kick.