After another defeat to West Brom that really was painful to watch, we look into who performed and who didn’t.
Lee Grant – 8
Not too much he could’ve done with the goal, some great saves from Rondon’ and McClean’s powerful strikes and picked out a Stoke shirt nine times out of ten. My man of the match.
Phil Bardsley – 6
Difficult time dealing with Chadli, should’ve done more to prevent him playing the ball into Morrison for the goal, not forgetting his usual pointless long range effort.
We head to the Hawthorns this weekend to face 8th placed West Brom.
I spoke with @AlexRobNewton from @ReadWestBrom ahead of this weekend’s clash. Giving us some insight on what’s happening in the other half.
Firstly, it’s got to be the elephant in the room. Saido Berahino. What’s the general feeling amongst the Albion fans, and do they think that this was the ideal move for the fans?
Standing at six foot seven inches the only people Peter Crouch looked up at before playing against Everton was the famous 100 club. The 26 players past and present that have reached 100 premier league goals.
It took him just seven minutes, a magnificent ball over the top from Charlie Adam found Marko Arnautovic’s left wing run, he then prodded it across the goal finding that skinny outstretched leg and the rest was literally history. Peter Crouch’s 100th Premier League goal, our first striker to reach the landmark. 1-0 Stoke.
The game started brightly and Stoke outplayed Everton for the majority, with two glorious one on one situations for Arnautovic it could have been 3-0 before the break, but it wasn’t meant to be. Great runs from Charlie Adam, Bardsley and even Glen Whelan saw opportunities to increase the lead but the next goal had to be Everton’s. They had their own chances in the game, nothing worth talking about but the goal came against the run of play, not without it’s controversy of course. There’s always controversy when Stoke are involved.
The ball was played down the right channel to Kevin Mirallas, he cut inside and fired the ball in to the far corner, the ball deflected in off an evasive Shawcross sending Lee Grant the wrong way. Immediately the offside flag was raised and Stoke fans cheers swallowed up Everton fans noise, but the joy was short lived. After a brief conversation with the linesman the goal was given, Stoke had to go again.
Clever play by Charlie Adam, attempting his weekly half-way line challenge seemed to trouble Joel Robles for a second, the fans behind the goal on their feet waiting for the net to ripple but the theme of the night prevailed. It wasn’t meant to be.
Our new number nine got his moment too, replacing Arnautovic; Saido Berahino made his long awaited debut. Once again Charlie Adam lofted an inch perfect ball over the top finding his feet but impressive defending and lucky goalkeeping stopped a potential debut goal and the game ended soon after 1-1 the final score.
A point at home against a team which really should be emerging in to the top five of the Premier League isn’t too bad, but most fans seemed disappointed. Doesn’t that show you how far we have come in just a few years?
It was a record breaking night at the bet365 stadium for our 6ft7 striker, Peter Crouch, who last night joined an elite list of players to score 100 Premier League goals, solidifying himself in Premier League history. Plus, for all you Crouch enthusiasts out there you can look forward to watching all 100 goals on Sky Sports 1, every other day midweek. However, you’ll only see the infamous robot once, as last night was the first time he had used it in the Premier League.
It was also a night of controversy, with an Everton goal that was first disallowed, then given, after much badgering from the Everton players (you can tell they signed Schneiderlin from Man United…) We also got a first glimpse of our new £12 million pound man Saido Berahino. Let’s see how Twitter reacted to the events that unfolded at the bet365.
After coming away with a point that could’ve been so easily three, we look at how individuals performed yesterday evening.
Lee Grant – 8
Nothing too major to deal with apart from an absolute wonder save late on from a Davies header, nothing he could’ve done with the goal. Done all the basics well, no trouble taking crosses.
Phil Bardsley – 8
Apart from his Adam impersonation with a horrific long shot, a solid performance from Bardo, went forward well and was at ease with whatever Everton had to offer in attack.
Stoke will be hosting the Toffees at the bet365 Stadium this Wednesday. Everton are in fine form at the moment, having won five out of the last six league matches.
Everton have sealed the signatures of two players during the transfer window. 19-year-old Ademola Lookman has been brought in from Charlton Athletic for £7.5 million. The England U-19 international has scored 7 times for Charlton this season. But the signing that will most probably feature and cause us problems is 27-year-old Morgan Schneiderlin. Coming in from Manchester United for £24 million, he’s signing a four-and-a-half-year deal. He’s expressed excitement about being at Everton after having worked with Ronald Koeman 18 months ago at Southampton. A double swoop from Sunderland led to Bryan Oviedo and Darron Gibson joining them on permanent deals.
After years of transfer speculation, a couple of tantrums and a short journey up the M6, Saido Berahino finally moved away from West Bromwich Albion. He joined the Potters in a deal which could excess £15m and has signed a five-and-a-half year deal. Most Stoke fans seem delighted that the club have brought in a young, mobile, proven Premier League goalscorer; especially as Saido’s caught the eye of manager Mark Hughes for some time now. For the recipient club and the player, it seems like a happy ending to an elongated tale; but how do Baggies fans feel about the episode? I got in touch with Alex Newton from Read West Brom and asked him to divulge his feelings about how Saido was brought through the ranks, how the transfer talk looked from the other side of the glass and what we can expect from our new recruit.
Can you tell us about the emergence of Berahino, particularly during the 2013/14 season and your first impressions of him?
Saido Berahino burst onto the scene early in the 2013/14 season with a hat-trick in the second round of the then Capital One Cup against Newport. This saw him open the eyes of the Albion fans and management. A month later he made national headlines with a goal against Arsenal in the next round of the cup, then just three days later scoring the winner at Old Trafford as the Baggies recorded a 2-1 victory.
In his debut season in the Albion first team, he went on to score nine goals which saw him end the season top scorer at the club. He was a breath of fresh air into the team, and you could see he was a special talent. Everytime he started you feel he was going to do something special, nobody knew how to play against him.
If you haven’t seen the tragic news, it has been announced that Dionatan Teixeira has departed Stoke City by mutual consent. ‘Johnny’ Tex signed for Stoke in the summer of 2014, after completing a short trial and impressing Mark Hughes. Fans named him the Slovako-Brazilian Ryan Shawcross, whilst Sparky himself said Tex reminded him of Ryan Nelson and Chris Samba who he had previously signed after trials.
Tex has an illustrious record as a Stoke player, with a 100% win record in the league for the Potters. His first appearance came against Aston Villa in a 2-1 victory. Stoke had initial trailed and Mame Diouf had brought the Potters level, but it was after Teixeira’s introduction that the game changed in Stoke’s favour. Minutes after the Slovako-Brazilians introduction Stoke won a penalty which Victor Moses buried with composure. Many point to Teixeira’s introduction as one of the most important turning points in Stoke’s modern history.
After a good result aghast Manchester United that left fans gutted after letting it slip right at the very end, its time to examine the individual performances once again….
Lee Grant – 8
Absolutely no chance with the free kick, made some solid punches and catches when under pressure from the United big men, questionable spillage when clashing into Shawcross and was lucky it didn’t fall and a United players feet, yet some solid saves and fine reactions to keep us in the game.
Glen Johnson – 7
In a solid defensive performance Johnson was arguably the least strong out of the back 4, yet still a solid enough performance, Mkhitaryan easily got past him a few times but nothing too major. Average.
Stoke City have extended their unbeaten run after a 1-1 draw with Manchester United thanks to an own-goal from Juan Mata and a sensational free-kick from record breaking Wayne Rooney.
Rooney has now passed Sir Bobby Charlton in Man Utd’s all time top scorers with a wonderful free-kick beating Lee Grant at his far post.
The day started with the announcement of our new striker Saido Berahino walking on to the pitch poised with his new number nine jersey, giving the fans something to sing about before taking on Jose Mourihno’s Red Devil’s.
It was evident from the off that a big challenge was down Stoke’s left wing with Marko Arnautovic coming up against who Mourinho has stated, ‘the best right-back in football’, no not Andy Wilkinson for those of you reading this thinking maybe he has made a return, Antonio Valencia of course. The battle saw Arnautovic pick up a booking early on to the frustration of both fans and player alike.
The stage was set for Peter Crouch to continue his fine form and reach two milestones in one day, one being the first Potters striker to score in four consecutive games in the top flight, the other – his 100th goal, half of which have been headers.
He did have his chances, one a volley from 25 yards out, the other a rogue ball in the box late on in the game, what a story that would have been, however It wasn’t his day. Instead it panned out to be his former England teammates day, with an superb free-kick Wayne Rooney is now Manchester United’s all time top scorer with a massive 250 goals, a record all fans from any club can appreciate.
The Potters broke the deadlock after just 18 minutes of play, a cut back from Arnautovic found Erik Pieters in the box, his cross-ball then poked past David De Gea by a retreating Juan Mata. 1-0, and that’s the way it looked to finish as well.
The visitors tried to respond but man of the match Ryan Shawcross transformed his defence in to a brick wall, impressive tackles all round frustrated the Red Devil’s throughout the game, Zlatan Ibrahimovic could have bagged a brace if it wasn’t for a impressive centre half partnership forming with Bruno Martins-Indi forcing Utd back whenever they could.
Changes from both sides saw the likes of Rashford, Affellay, Rooney and youngster Julian N’goy come on to the pitch, but it was only Rooney’s day.
The free-kick came at the delight of all the tense travelling United fans as Rooney curled it sensationally past Lee Grant who hadn’t put a foot wrong all day. Full time, Stoke City 1-1 Manchester United.
