Stoke City have progressed to the fourth round of the League Cup after clinching a narrow 1-0 win over Championship side Fulham in Tuesday's tie at Craven Cottage.
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The visitors came close to opening the scoring after just two minutes when a poor backpass to Joe Lewis had to be scrambled clear with Peter Odemwingie bearing down on goal.
Kit Symons's charges continued to press and force mistakes from the Potters, who struggled to get into the game early on, although Odemwingie threatened in the 18th minute with a rasping long-range shot that sailed wide of the left post.
Despite Fulham's impressive play, it was Stoke who would open the scoring as, just after the half-hour mark, Peter Crouch's one-two with Odemwingie set the tall striker through on goal, where he slotted home from seven yards out.
The Whites set about trying to edge back into the game following the restart and, six minutes into the second half, Ben Pringle rifled over the bar from outside the box after some neat play from Sakari Mattila and Ross McCormack.
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Pringle was involved again 68 minutes in when his low ball across the face of goal narrowly evaded the stretched legs of McCormack, while moments later Lasse Christensen and Ryan Tunnicliffe combined to set up Moussa Dembele, who shot over.
As the clock ticked on, the Potters had a chance to double their lead when Marko Arnautovic played Odemwingie clean through on goal, but the Nigerian forward went on to chip the ball over the bar.
The latter stages of the tie saw a flurry of action as Christensen put the ball wide despite having an open goal at his disposal, and in injury time, the same player forced an acrobatic save from Shay Given before Dan Burn rifled against the bar.
Despite all of Fulham's endeavours, the final whistle saw Stoke win the game and proceed in the competition at the expense of the Championship side.
Giuseppe Labellarte
