Stoke City 3-0 Swansea City: Jaden Philogene-Bidace among scorers as Potters cruise to win

Jaden Philogene-Bidace sweeps home his first goal since arriving at Stoke on loan for the rest of the season in January

Jaden Philogene-Bidace scored the first league goal of his career as Stoke City cruised to a 3-0 victory over 10-man Swansea City.

On-loan Aston Villa starlet Philogene-Bidace marked his 20th birthday by putting Stoke ahead from close range.

Lewis Baker scored Stoke's second from the penalty spot after Ryan Bennett was sent off for handball on the line.

Jacob Brown's pinpoint finish wrapped up a win which sees Stoke climb to 10th, while Swansea stay 16th.

This was a welcome triumph for the Potters, whose recent Championship record at the bet365 Stadium has been miserable.

A first home league victory since November - and just a second in the last nine attempts - lifts Michael O'Neill's team back to within three points of the play-off places.

Any hope of a top-six push already looks over for Swansea, who could have few complaints about this result given the lacklustre nature of their performance, though their cause was not helped by Bennett's debatable red card.

Stoke came into the contest on the back of a morale-boosting FA Cup home win against Wigan, while Swansea's triumph over Blackburn last Saturday was just their second in nine league games.

It was the hosts who looked like building on their weekend success from the outset, pressing high and penning Swansea inside their own defensive third for much of the first half.

England Under-20 international Philogene-Bidace was the game's outstanding player, particularly before the break.

His sparkling footwork took him past Cyrus Christie only for Swansea goalkeeper Andy Fisher to gather his poked effort at goal.

For all their control, Stoke struggled to create clear-cut chances in the first half, though Josh Tymon's sweet 25-yard volley had Fisher scrambling before it flashed over the bar and Baker curled a free-kick past the post.

Swansea's one genuine opportunity of the match came when Olivier Ntcham picked off a loose Joe Bursik pass and squared for Jay Fulton, but his shot was blocked by Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

There was a blow for Stoke as Tyrese Campbell was forced off with what looked like a knee problem, meaning deadline-day recruit Josh Maja was sent on for his league debut just before half-time.

Maja was involved when the breakthrough came just after the restart, feeding Brown who in turn laid off for Baker.

His shot ricocheted to Philogene-Bidace, whose first-time effort at the far post was effective rather than pretty, the ball trickling into the bottom corner.

Lewis Baker celebrates having scored his second goal since joining Stoke in January

The contentious second goal came when Fisher saved Ben Wilmot's low drive and then Brown's follow-up effort.

The ball deflected off Fisher and onto the arm of Bennett on the line, and the centre-back was dismissed by referee Jeremy Simpson despite protesting that he had not meant to handle.

Baker made light of Stoke's poor recent penalty record, guiding his spot-kick into the bottom corner despite Fisher diving the right way.

Swansea substitute Joel Piroe then drew a comfortable save from Bursik before top scorer Brown delivered Stoke's best goal of the night, driving into the penalty area and rifling a shot across Fisher and inside the far post.

Stoke manager Michael O'Neill:

"A great win - a really good performance from start to finish. I was disappointed we were not ahead at half-time but scoring early in the second half and then scoring again with the red card, the game looked done then.

"Jaden Philogene-Bidace is a good player - the first day he trained you could see that.

"He is sharp, dynamic and he does a lot of work off the ball as well. The other thing we like about him is that he is a brave.

"I knew we were getting a good player - Steven Gerrard told me he was a good player - and we haven't been disappointed."

Swansea head coach Russell Martin:

"Not good enough really. We didn't start the game well. Saturday I think mentally, emotionally, physically has taken a lot out of the guys.

"We haven't got enough players who are like Grimesy [Matt Grimes], Flynn [Downes], Ben Cabango, who can just play relentlessly through a busy schedule.

"We have a lot of players who are playing catching up. Hannes [Wolf] and Cyrus [Christie] look tired, Ollie [Ntcham] look tired. Ryan Manning is suspended, Pato [Jamie Paterson] we couldn't play, Kyle Naughton is out.

"A lot of changes and we paid the price. We then try to make a couple of changes and Ryan Bennett gets sent off and that's the game done isn't it.

"None of their players claim for [the penalty]. Benno's reaction tells you everything. It hits his foot and then bounces up and hits his hand. His foot has stopped it going in so I don't think it's going in after that. It didn't surprise me it was given with how it was going during the night."

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