Pre-Season Friendly: Philadelphia Union 0 Stoke City 2
An early blitz from Stoke has seen the English Premier League club complete their United States tour with a 2-0 win over Philadelphia Union.
American midfielder Brek Shea was key to Stoke's good start at the Union's PPL Park, starting the move that led to Michael Kightly's early goal, before scoring the second himself with a smart finish in the 18th minute.
While Shea was subbed off just after the half-hour mark due to a rash challenge from Philadelphia's Matt Kassel, the 23-year-old former FC Dallas man had already made a fairly significant case to start Stoke's opening Premier League fixture away to Liverpool on August 17.
With Tuesday's match having barely gotten out of first gear, Shea set up the visitors' opening goal in the fourth minute, picking up the ball in the centre circle and driving forward before sending a pass to the left-hand side where Marc Muniesa crossed to Kightly, who volleyed home.
The same trio of Stoke players linked up for their second goal 14 minutes later with Muniesa feeding Kightly on the left, who cut in and curled a cross to Shea for a tap-in in the six-yard box.
The win on Tuesday brought Stoke's tour of the USA to a close with two wins and a loss against Major League Soccer opposition.
Mark Hughes' team will head back to England and will not play again before their Premier League opener against Liverpool.
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