Stoke City 2-2 Portsmouth – My View

  I’ll break down what I see as the key points from yesterday’s 2-2 home draw with Portsmouth.

Rollercoaster fifteen minutes
If you’d offered me a draw at the start of the game, I wouldn’t have taken it, as a win over fellow strugglers Portsmouth would have been very useful. With fifteen minutes left, I couldn’t see anything but a draw as an outcome, albeit a goalless one. After Portsmouth took the lead with little time left, I would have been happy to take a draw, then after we pulled it back to a winning situation and conceded from a cruel own goal late on, a draw seems a big disappointment. It was a fair result in the end though, but one that suits Portsmouth better than it does us.

We have found a hero
It seems that in James Beattie we have found a true goalscoring hero. His two goals yesterday were his third and fourth in just five games for Stoke, and he has now become the Premier League player with more league goals than any other this season. It is the manner in which he scored that enthuses me most, firstly keeping his cool to score an excellent penalty, then being in the right place at the right time to finish off a scrappy second. At just £3.5 million, he is a truly fantastic signing and his goals could prove crucial in our fight for survival.

Beattie is the out and out goalscorer we’ve lacked since Peter Thorne left the club

Lady Luck is fickle
It is true to say that Stoke have not had the best of luck this season, with woodwork strikes aplenty and numerous refereeing decisions seeming to go against us. I thought our luck had changed however, when we profited from a bad penalty decision from referee Mike Jones before Danny Pugh’s mis-hit shot served as the perfect assist for Beattie’s second. It seems it’s swings and roundabouts though, as a very unfortunate late own goal cost us two points.

The late show
Tony Pulis gets a lot of criticism for playing too defensively once we get a lead, with late goals conceded costing us several times this season. I’m a firm believer that all the late goals balance out over time, and those we have conceded against Middlesbrough, West Ham, Chelsea and Portsmouth are counter-acted by our own crucial late strikes against Aston Villa, West Brom and Newcastle.

Injury return concern
Mamady Sidibe and Liam Lawrence made their first starts since December and October respectively yesterday after recovering from injury. With Lawrence, we were originally told he had only a minor injury and would be back in a week, yet his absence has stretched to four months, despite him being capable of playing, as we have seen by his recent cameo roles since early January (though he does look as if he’s stocking up for winter). With Sidibe, on the other hand, we were told he could be out for the season, but instead he is rushed back into the side at the first possible opportunity. Something doesn’t ring true. There has been an apparent deterioration in the relationship between Pulis and Lawrence, which is a shame as Lawrence was so good for us last season.

 
Sidibe and Lawrence returned from injury

The opposition
Portsmouth didn’t look to be a great side, though they certainly played better than some of the teams we have seen at Stoke this season, with Manchester City and Tottenham springing to mind as the two worst. They’re still in the relegation mix, but seem to have turned a corner under Paul Hart and I expect them to avoid the drop.

Player Ratings:

Thomas Sorensen (gk): Denmark’s number one had very little to do in the game except from pick the ball out of his net twice. he cannot be held to blame for either of Portsmouth’s goals though. 6

Andy Wilkinson (rb): If only Wilkinson’s passing was better, he would be an extremely good player, all the other attributes to his game are there, he is fast, strong, a good tackler and good in the air. He had a decent game yesterday, though as per usual he squandered the ball a few times. He did very well to get the ball into the box for our second goal. 6

Ryan Shawcross (cb): Shawcross had a good game on the whole, dealing well with the aerial threat of Peter Crouch. He is to blame for his own goal though, however unfortunate it was, as he shouldn’t be just swinging his leg at the ball in that position. 6

Abdoulaye Faye (cb): Yet another good captain’s performance from Abdoulaye. It’s wonderful to see his cool head in defence, I often think he’s the best footballer we have with the ball on the ground as he continues to play us out of danger. He made an excellent saving challenge from Crouch at the end of the first half too. His score would be higher, but an eight seems too much for a member of a defence which conceded twice. 7

Danny Higginbotham (lb): Higginbotham had a reasonable game, notably getting forward better than he usually does. His numerous hoofs upfield were slightly more effective with Sidibe in the side. 6

Liam Lawrence (rm): Lawrence looked quite lively in the early stages of the return, seeing a lot of the ball. He clearly flagged as the game wore on though and his delivery was generally poor. 6

Salif Diao (cm): Diao wasn’t as involved in the game as he can be, but he did make some excellent tackles and his calming presence was a benefit to the side. 6

Amdy Faye (cm): Much the same as his Senegalese teammate Diao, he did little wrong but little to catch the eye in a game where midfields were largely bypassed. 6

Danny Pugh (lm): Pugh had a quiet game. He wasn’t really involved in the action a great deal from the left wing position which is not his strongest. He did get a lucky assist for Beattie’s second though. 5

Mamady Sidibe (cf): Mama certainly helped our direct game on his return, winning his fair share of flick-ons and holding up the ball. He also looked unfit though, and his impact waned in the second half. 6

James Beattie (cf): Beattie did exactly what he has done all his career, being in the right place at the right time to score twice. He was largely anonymous aside from that, but who cares if he puts away the chances he gets. He should also be commended for handling the pressure to score his penalty in such emphatic fashion. 8

Subs:

Michael Tonge (rm): Tonge played well after coming on for Lawrence with 25 minutes left. He looked lively, playing some good passes and getting the ball into the box. I’d like to see a lot more of him between now and the end of the season, but it’s unlikely he’ll feature heavily once Delap and Etherington return from suspension. 7

Richard Cresswell (cf): Cresswell was only on the pitch for five minutes after replacing Sidibe, so I can’t really give him a score. NA

My Man of the Match: James Beattie