It was a comprehensive victory which saw Leeds go off at the end to jeers after being outfought for most of the match.
Right from the start it was clear it was going to be Stoke's day. Instantly impressive going forward they grabbed the lead after just six minutes making the most of a free-kick from just outside the penalty area.
Matthew Kilgallon could only watch after being booked when he finished in a heap with Mamady Sidibe, as the experienced Lee Hendrie curled a 22-yard free-kick just inside the near angle.
It was to be a sore spot for Leeds for two of the following three goals Stoke piled in came from around the same spot, albeit at the other end of the field.
It took Leeds, second best all over the pitch, 20 minutes to trouble Steve Simonsen in the Stoke goal, the keeper palming away Geoff Horsfield's close-in header with Carl Hoefkens completing the safety act by snuffing out a follow-up effort from Eddie Lewis.
It took Leeds another 50 playing minutes before they stretched the Stoke goalkeeper again.
Leeds caretaker manager John Carver talked to his men at the break, but it was all Stoke for much of the second half. And two goals in the space of four minutes around the hour mark put the game way out of Leeds' reach.
From an almost identical spot outside the penalty area after 58 minutes Andy Griffin repeated Hendie's scoring act, albeit this time in open play with a clinical low shot and then four minutes later Danny Higginbotham had no trouble stearing in a header from a corner from near the penalty spot, Leeds disappointingly providing little challenge to the big defender.
Jonathon Douglas, Leeds' most effective player of the day, underlined his midfield efforts with a 25-yard shot in the 72nd minute, but it was not good enough to beat the safe Simonsen and even when Leeds were awarded a penalty seven minutes later, the Stoke goalkeeper could not be beaten.
Richard Cresswell, harassed by Michael Duberry won the spot-kick, but though Robbie Blake's shot was firm and low, Simonsen turned it for a corner to compound an afternoon of misery for the home side.
And just to underline Stoke's complete dominance substitute Ricardo Fuller, who had come on full of running, smacked in another shot from that spot just outside the penalty area to complete the drubbing.