Stoke 3-2 Aston Villa

Stoke could have gone ahead as early as the 40th second when a trademark Rory Delap long throw caused confusion in the Villa box, but Amdy Faye's header went wide of the upright.

Stoke went ahead from the spot after Martin Laursen was adjudged to have brought down Rory Delap. Liam Lawrence stepped up to slot home past Brad Friedel.

After the restart, both sides made chances, but it wasn't until just after the hour mark that the visitors levelled. John Carew played a neat one-two with Ashley Young, before firing a right-footed shot past Thomas Sorensen in the Stoke goal.

With just 10 minutes of the game remaining, a mistake from Gareth Barry allowed Ricardo Fuller to race towards goal and fire a shot across Brad Friedel to put Stoke into a lead that they could only hold for two minutes as Laursen slotted home from close range after Carew flicked on Young's free kick.

The game was heading for a draw, but, deep into injury time, a Delap throw again caused havoc in the Villa defence and Sidibe rose highest to head home.