This is Staffordshire -- MARK Hughes bemoaned the controversial decision leading to the free-kick that sealed Stoke's FA Cup fate here at Stamford Bridge this evening. But the City boss admitted Chelsea were good value for their victory after seeing his side struggle to make any serious inroads into their first-half lead. Stoke's interest in this year's competition was ended by Oscar's 27th minute free-kick during a game in which Chelsea monopolised the chances in front of goal. The home side twice hit the woodwork through Oscar and Andre Schurrle, while Asmir Begovic underlined his role as the busier of the two keepers on his return to the team by brilliantly preventing David Luis crashing home a late free-kick. City, sadly, could create nothing so deadly going forward and struggled to generate any meaningful pressure when the heat should have been on in the closing stages. But at least there was the consolation of seeing Chelsea draw Manchester City away in the fifth round. "We stayed in the game and it was important we did that to give ourselves a chance to take the game away from Chelsea," said Hughes. "Unfortunately, we conceded and it was a fantastic strike, but we are disappointed with the award of the free-kick. "We thought there was very little contact and I think the lad has shouted as the challenge went in and that swayed the referee. "But you have to hold your hands up when a player produces quality like Oscar did. "I thought we stuck at it, but you have to get a little bit of luck at Stamford Bridge and at times we didn't force the issue enough to change things." Hughes denied he was annoyed by Jose Mourinho's antics on the touchline, observing: I didn't notice, to be perfectly honest. "But I thought we should have had more time added on. "I thought players went down for quite a long time. But that's just details of the game and overall Chelsea deserved to get through." Mourinho, who celebrated his 51st birthday today, was in jovial spirits after today's victory. On drawing Man City in the fifth round, he grinned: "That's good. Our priority for the season is to improve and the best way is to play against the best team (Man City) twice in 15 days in the stadium where they smash everything and score four or five goals, even against the best teams. "If we lose, we lose against the best. If we don't lose, it's fantastic. It's a good draw. They have everything to lose. "We played again a very good game (v Stoke). The one-zero doesn't reflect the dominance of our game. "It's a bit of a contradiction because we play so well and score from a free-kick. We had some fantastic play against a team that is a difficult team. "We hit the post twice and Begovic showed again how good he is. "Obviously the last 10 minutes everything is open at 1-0, but we controlled the game since minute one." * Mark Hughes confirmed that he anticipates the signing of Cardiff striker Peter Odeminwingie in return for Kenwyne Jones travelling to South Wales being completed tomorrow.
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This is Staffordshire -- MARK Hughes bemoaned the controversial decision leading to the free-kick that sealed Stoke's FA Cup fate here at Stamford Bridge this evening. But the City boss admitted Chelsea were good value for their victory after seeing his side struggle to make any serious inroads into their first-half lead. Stoke's interest in this year's competition was ended by Oscar's 27th minute free-kick during a game in which Chelsea monopolised the chances in front of goal. The home side twice hit the woodwork through Oscar and Andre Schurrle, while Asmir Begovic underlined his role as the busier of the two keepers on his return to the team by brilliantly preventing David Luis crashing home a late free-kick. City, sadly, could create nothing so deadly going forward and struggled to generate any meaningful pressure when the heat should have been on in the closing stages. But at least there was the consolation of seeing Chelsea draw Manchester City away in the fifth round. "We stayed in the game and it was important we did that to give ourselves a chance to take the game away from Chelsea," said Hughes. "Unfortunately, we conceded and it was a fantastic strike, but we are disappointed with the award of the free-kick. "We thought there was very little contact and I think the lad has shouted as the challenge went in and that swayed the referee. "But you have to hold your hands up when a player produces quality like Oscar did. "I thought we stuck at it, but you have to get a little bit of luck at Stamford Bridge and at times we didn't force the issue enough to change things." Hughes denied he was annoyed by Jose Mourinho's antics on the touchline, observing: I didn't notice, to be perfectly honest. "But I thought we should have had more time added on. "I thought players went down for quite a long time. But that's just details of the game and overall Chelsea deserved to get through." Mourinho, who celebrated his 51st birthday today, was in jovial spirits after today's victory. On drawing Man City in the fifth round, he grinned: "That's good. Our priority for the season is to improve and the best way is to play against the best team (Man City) twice in 15 days in the stadium where they smash everything and score four or five goals, even against the best teams. "If we lose, we lose against the best. If we don't lose, it's fantastic. It's a good draw. They have everything to lose. "We played again a very good game (v Stoke). The one-zero doesn't reflect the dominance of our game. "It's a bit of a contradiction because we play so well and score from a free-kick. We had some fantastic play against a team that is a difficult team. "We hit the post twice and Begovic showed again how good he is. "Obviously the last 10 minutes everything is open at 1-0, but we controlled the game since minute one." * Mark Hughes confirmed that he anticipates the signing of Cardiff striker Peter Odeminwingie in return for Kenwyne Jones travelling to South Wales being completed tomorrow.
Reported by This is 52 minutes ago.