Stoke City player ratings vs Oxford as home drought drags on
Stoke City played out a goalless draw with Oxford United as they were sucked into another frustrating afternoon against their old foe Gary Rowett.
In a match of few chances, Andrew Moran had a low shot saved in the first half and Enda Stevens broke forward to force a save in the second. But the biggest moment was probably when Oxford’s Ole Romeny stole the ball from Viktor Johansson, who had been pulled to the right and thought he had seen it out of play – only for Romeny to cut in and hit against the bar.
This was Stoke’s fifth home game out of seven when they have failed to score and they can’t get the wins they need to stay in the Championship unless they can solve that problem.
READ MORE: Mark Robins makes Stoke City demand after goalless draw with Oxford
New signing Ali Al-Hamadi was watching from the stands hoping that he will be able to come in and be the answer next week. As it stands, he’ll be coming into a team that is only two points above the relegation zone.
Everyone in the bet365 Stadium will have known Rowett will have wanted to keep it at 0-0 and as tight as possible for as long as possible, testing the patience of the home stands and the patience and concentration of the Stoke players. They got to half-time without too much stress, although Stoke did have more energy than in mid-week.
The best chance fell to Moran when he was gifted the ball in the Oxford box by Peter Kioso, who panicked when under pressure from Gooch, having received the ball in a tough spot because Lowe had hared down on Michal Helik. Either way, Moran tried to bend it into the far corner and couldn’t find enough to beat Jamie Cumming.
Junior Tchamadeu had a half-hearted penalty appeal when he hit the deck with an arm in his chest from Siriki Dembele. It was perhaps 10 times more of a penalty than Portsmouth had got in mid-week but still about 50 times under the threshold for a foul in the box.
Oxford’s best effort was crashed cross-shot from Greg Leigh, saved at near post by Viktor Johansson. They started the second half with a decent chance too, a volley not all that far wide from Przemyslaw Placheta.
Lowe had a penalty shout that was probably stronger than Tchamadeu’s, taking a clumsy shove from Kioso, but it was still not enough for Farai Hallam to point to the spot.
Stevens popped up in the box with a well-hit low drive that Cumming could only parry but the keeper got lucky that he avoided any lurking Stoke players and Oxford could clear their lines without too much pressure. Lowe was flagged offside with a very tight call when he raced behind the defence onto a neat pass from Burger.
But hearts were in mouths when Johansson went to sweep up a long ball on the right, shepherded it out of play but no flag went up from the linesman. Romeny stole in and attacked an unmanned goal, going for his shot early and clobbering it against the crossbar.
So nil-nil at full-time and no one would have bet against that at the start of play.
Here are the player ratings from the bet365 Stadium:
Johansson: Superb anticipation to block one-on-one with Bradshaw at start of second half. Got away with one when Romeny hit bar. 6
Tchamadeu: Ambitious penalty call. Got into some decent positions going forward, forcing save from Cumming. 6
Stevens: Valuable presence in defence and had one of the best chances when he sneaked into box, forcing parry from Cumming. 7
Phillips: Unlucky with deft first-half header. Could have been more assertive at times. 6
Rose: First start under Robins for Stoke. Largely no nonsense. Unlucky with a booking for getting legs tangled after break. 6
Burger: Can be useful on the ball but needs to be sent to an intensive heading camp at some point, seeming to move away from the ball when it’s in the air. 5
Baker: Needs to get into a positions when he can pull the trigger – and then remember to pull the trigger when he does. 5
Gooch: Lively on the left wing, particularly in the first half. Ready to take on his man and cross with either foot. 6
Koumas: Some loose touches when Stoke needed him to be cutting in the final third. 4.5
Moran: Had a good chance in the first half when gifted possession in the box. Not ruthless enough in big moments. 5
Lowe: Some clever movement and very unlucky to be flagged offside when running onto Burger pass behind defence in second half. Needs more help. 6.5
Substitutes
Junho (for Koumas, 68): A good cross into the near post for Lowe in injury time but not really able to change the flow of the game. 6
Not used: Bonham, Pearson, Vidigal, Seko, Ennis, Gibson, Wilson-Esbrand, Tezgel.
Referee: Farai Hallam (Surrey) 5
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