Europa League: FC Thun 0 Stoke City 1

Danny Pugh’s goal gave Stoke City a 1-0 victory in the first leg of their Europa League playoff away at Swiss side FC Thun.

Former West Ham centre-back Matthew Upson made his first start for Stoke in the match at the Arena Thun, which saw the hosts’ goalkeeper David da Costa sent off two minutes into injury time.

English Premier League visitors Stoke made an impressive start, imposing themselves in the opening minutes despite worries over how they would adapt to an artificial surface.

Striker Kenwyne Jones acted as the focal point of Stoke’s attack and provided the assist for Pugh’s 19th-minute opener.

Jones nodded on a Ryan Shawcross free-kick and found Pugh on the edge of the area, who proceeded to crash the ball into the bottom corner of the Thun goal.

Any suggestions Stoke might temper their confrontational approach were quickly dismissed.

The challenges flew in from the visitors, resulting in yellow cards for both defender Robert Huth and midfielder Michael Tonge.

Thun were undaunted, producing several tough tackles of their own and creating a fiery contest between striker Dario Lezcano and his marker Huth.

The composure of debutant Upson proved important as Stoke sought to keep out the Swiss Super League leaders, with the England man making a crucial block just before the break.

The second half saw much of the same from both teams, with Matthew Etherington booked for dissent.

Huth – on a yellow card – was replaced by Andy Wilkinson as Lezcano continued to cause problems for Stoke’s back line.

Both sides struggled to create any clear-cut chances, and the match became dominated by cynical fouls and wasted free-kicks.

Stoke goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen was hardly troubled, while at the other end Pugh’s goal represented the visitors’ only effort on target.

Jones was replaced by Glenn Whelan with 20 minutes remaining and chances continued to elude both sides.

As the clock ran down, there was one last incident of note, with Thun goalkeeper da Costa sent off for bringing down Jonathan Walters on the halfway line after attempting to dribble past the striker.

Stoke will take a narrow lead back to the Britannia Stadium for Thursday’s second leg, where they will be confident of securing progression to the group stage.