Aston Villa 1-2 Stoke City

Mame Diouf's previous goal had been at the African Cup of Nations for Senegal

• Sherwood takes charge of Villa for first time

• Sinclair puts home side ahead with powerful header

• Diouf beats Guzan from six yards to level

• Moses late penalty wins it as Vlaar sent off

New Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood's reign began with a stoppage-time defeat by Stoke, the club's sixth straight league loss leaving them second bottom.

In the dugout for the first time since replacing the sacked Paul Lambert, Sherwood saw on-loan winger Scott Sinclair head in Fabian Delph's cross.

Mame Diouf beat Brad Guzan from six yards to level before the break.

And Victor Moses's 91st-minute penalty won it - with Villa's Ron Vlaar shown a red card for bringing down the winger.

It meant a disappointing start for Sherwood, who was taking charge of his first Premier League game since May 2014 when, as Tottenham boss, Spurs beat Villa 3-0 at White Hart Lane.

Sherwood was dismissed by Spurs despite boasting the best top-flight win percentage (59%) of any Tottenham boss in Premier League history but his 11-month exile from the game ended when he was appointed Villa boss.

And for long periods, Villa did not look the side that had dropped into the bottom three after losing to Hull on 10 February.

However, Mark Hughes's mid-table Stoke side had a point to prove after successive 4-1 defeats, against Blackburn in the FA Cup and at home to Manchester City in the league.

Sherwood was taking charge of his first league game since Spurs beat Villa 3-0 in May last year

It looked as if the Potters' troubles would continue when Villa took the lead courtesy of a powerful header by Sinclair, on loan from Manchester City.

After tangling with Phil Bardsley in the penalty area, Sinclair jumped to his feet and was perfectly placed to meet Delph's left-wing cross and beat Asmir Begovic from eight yards.

The winger's celebrations were nothing compared with his manager's - Sherwood leaping around ecstatically on the touchline.

But Stoke levelled before the break when Diouf headed in Stephen Ireland's centre for his seventh goal of the season. Guzan, making his 100th successive Premier League start, had no chance.

The visitors always looked the better side from then on and moments after Villa's Ciaran Clark headed narrowly over, the away side won a stoppage-time penalty when Vlaar bought down Moses.

After the Villa captain was shown a second yellow card, Moses confidently converted from the spot to ruin Sherwood's big day and ensure Villa stay in deep trouble.

Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood: "You can't take any positives. It is bitterly disappointing to lose the game in the manner we did, right at the death. Both teams were very poor, but I didn't care as long as we won.

"There is no point in me getting a big stick out and banging the players on the head with it. It is about me getting the best out of them for the remaining games.

"There is a lot of work to be done but we will improve because we need to keep this great club in the Premier League. We are not thinking about going down."

Stoke boss Mark Hughes: "Before the game there was a lot of positivity around Villa and rightly so. I think Tim will be a very good appointment. But today was about what we needed to do as a group and to have a response to the previous weekend at Blackburn when we didn't do ourselves justice.

"Not too many people gave us a chance of winning, which we were a bit taken aback by. It was a key game for us on a number of levels and I am delighted with what we produced."

Prior to arriving at Villa last month, Scott Sinclair's last goal had been for Swansea in August 2012

Stoke bounced back after successive 4-1 defeats, to Blackburn and Manchester City

Scott Sinclair joined Villa on loan from Manchester City in January, with a view to a permanent deal at the end of the season

Tim Sherwood and Mark Hughes were last in opposite dugouts when Sherwood's Tottenham beat Stoke 1-0 at the Britannia Stadium in April