Tony Pulis has followed a recipe which served Bolton well a few seasons ago, a recipe which mirrors the perception of an archetypal English football outfit.
With the gladiatorial figures of big Mama Sidibe and Ricardo Fuller plying their trade at the Britannia, Villa were always going to be in for a battle.
And so it proved.
Ok, you could say the game was won by a mere one goal margin. And, rightly, you could argue it was a slightly fortuitous injury time goal that clinched the points.
But, to ignore the fact that Stoke battered their opponents into submission, which finally led to the Claret and Blue giving in, would be naive.
The capacity crowd obviously played their part by creating a cauldron of rattling aggression, but on the pitch physical not vocal abuse reaped rewards.
Stoke will happily play in that fashion for the rest of the season if it means they claim survival and so will teams like West Brom and typically Bolton.
Ugly
Villa, on the other hand, want to play fantasy football and often succeed in doing just that.
Martin O'Neill's men play the beautiful game how it was meant to be played, with finesse and verve.
But, there are times when battling is a necessity, when flowing football must be abandoned in favour of fighting football.
Stoke, if anything, have dished out a valuable lesson because after weeks of European action, first in the Intertoto Cup, and then the Uefa Cup, Villa got used to a certain way of playing.
They got match fit, but not battle hardened, and even when the campaign kicked off against Mark Hughes' Man City, a cultured approach was adequate.
Man City too, wanted to play a passing game. They wanted to win pretty but it wasn't enough as Villa showed their teeth with some fatal finishing.
Stoke wanted to win ugly because they know how. They had a season of doing just that in the Championship and it got them promoted.
Resilience
Villa were simply unable to adapt to a different way of playing. They needed to show more strength and resilience.
One of the great strengths that Manchester United and Chelsea in particular possess is their ability to play the European way in Europe and the Premiership way in the Premiership.
It may sound simple, but it most definitely isn't.
A glowing example is Arsene Wenger's Arsenal.
They can play brilliant attacking football in Europe, a pressing sequential passing game. But when it comes to away fixtures against sides like Fulham, Bolton and Blackburn they can't cope with the tough tackling tactics.
It has, on occasion, cost them the title.
Hopefully, Villa have learnt their lesson and hopefully they will have a great run in Europe this season.
But hopefully, they will also enjoy another season culminating in a top six finish.
If they do it will be because winning ugly has become somewhat a second nature.