FA Cup: Stoke City 0-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Championship side Wolves upset Premier League opponents Stoke City to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Helder Costa's low first-half shot and Matt Doherty's stunning free-kick gave Wolves their first win in the competition for almost six years.

Peter Crouch volleyed over from six yards and visiting goalkeeper Carl Ikeme made four excellent saves before Doherty's set-piece sealed victory.

It is the first time since 2008-09 that Stoke have gone out in round three.

Manager Mark Hughes had named a strong starting line-up, with Xherdan Shaqiri and Bojan Krkic among those brought into the side that beat Watford in the Premier League on Tuesday.

But the Potters were below par for long periods and did not show their quality until the latter stages, as they were beaten by a team 25 positions below them in the league pyramid.

Costa celebrated his goal in acrobatic fashion

A long time coming for Wolves

Wolves had suffered two relegations, won one promotion and had seven different full-time managers since their previous win in an FA Cup tie - a 5-0 third-round replay win over Doncaster in January 2011.

Two head coaches, Kenny Jackett and Walter Zenga, have departed during another eventful season at Molineux, but Wolves' win at Stoke was more evidence of their ongoing recovery under boss Paul Lambert.

A much-changed Wolves team caused their top-flight opponents problems from the outset in attack.

Jon Dadi Bodvarsson had already sent two efforts wide before Costa, who is on a season-long loan from Benfica, found the net for the eighth time this season with a strike which beat Lee Grant at his near post.

At the other end, a defence including fit-again Mike Williamson for the first time since November 2015 was rarely threatened by Stoke until the final 30 minutes, when Ikeme came to the fore.

Named as captain with Danny Batth and Dave Edwards on the bench, Nigeria international Ikeme kept out efforts from Marko Arnautovic, Ibrahim Afellay, Crouch and Joe Allen to preserve his clean sheet.

Bojan Krkic was one of four additions to Mark Hughes' starting line-up against Wolves

Off-colour Stoke struggle

Stoke were one of a host of Premier League clubs viewing the competition as their best chance of silverware this season, but any hopes of repeating their run to the final in 2011 were dashed.

Spanish forward Bojan, linked with a move away during the January transfer window, did little to push his claims for regular first-team football during a quiet first period.

Unimpressed by Stoke's first-half showing, Hughes introduced Allen and Charlie Adam in place of Bojan and Giannelli Imbula at the interval and those changes had the desired effect.

The Potters were dominant for a 20-minute spell but Wolves held firm and secured a cup upset with full-back Doherty's fourth goal of the campaign.

Hughes rues poor first half

Stoke manager Mark Hughes: "We lost the game on the first half. The strength of the team we put out should have been capable of getting a result.

"You need luck, and their keeper made several saves, but ultimately we weren't good enough on the day and we have to give them credit.

"We wanted a cup run, sadly that's not the case and that's disappointing. We need to pick ourselves up and get our act together next week now."

Wolves head coach Paul Lambert: "The whole performance from start to finish was terrific and we could have been two or three up before we even scored. We look like a team that's full of confidence at the minute.

"You need time to put your own stamp on things, you're never going to do it within three or four weeks. You won't even do it within three or four months, you need about a full season to get your point across properly.

"But there is an accumulation of things now happening at the club. It's a lot better place now than when I came in, that's for sure."