All square, then, and it’s a fair result although West Brom will be the ones with all the regret. They were pretty comfortably in control after Rodriguez’s goal but then Hegazi, who was very good in all else that he did, made a horrible error and Crouch popped up to equalise. There were flickers at either end after that, particularly from Choupo-Moting for Stoke, but neither side can really complain at the outcome.
Not as bad as all that in the end, eh? You can keep your Chelsea 2-0 Everton, just supposing a game like that had ever existed. And you can now join Daniel Harris for Liverpool v Arsenal via the link below. Enjoy that, and it’s goodbye from me!
Full-time: West Brom 1-1 Stoke
And now it is, indeed, over.
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90+3 min: McClean now does well on the left and fizzes a difficult ball in for Rondon, who slices it all the way out for a throw-in. This game is now by some distance the best it’s been, but it’s going to be over in a minute.
90+2 min: Sobhi tricks to the byline but Livermore nods his dinked cross away ... only into the path of Fletcher, 25 yards out, who senses a fairytale of his very own but sees a harmless first-time shot blocked.
90 min: We will have four minutes of stoppage time.
89 min: Burke immediately puts in a nice, deep cross for McClean, who drills a volley into the ground and into a defender.
88 min: Allen is booked now for a foul on Rodriguez. West Brom will take the respite as Stoke have been crisper and more threatening than at any point in the second half since equalising. And now Burke comes on in place of Rodriguez for his debut. Fairytale imminent?
87 min: What a chance for Choupo-Moting! Shaqiri’s cross beats both Nyom and Dawson, who were occupied by Crouch, and the Cameroonian brings the ball down at the far post. He has space to get a shot away, but lashes it wide!
85 min: Zouma goes in search of said winner, letting fly again. It’s a good couple of yards wide but interests Foster enough to provoke a dive, and the away fans “ooooh” in such a way that suggests they didn’t have the angle we did.
84 min: Rondon is booked for a high foot on Fletcher. Can anyone find a winner? The ante has certainly been upped and you wouldn’t rule it out.
83 min: If you want a visual of the equaliser, it reminded me a bit of that famous Koscielny/Szczesny to-do when Arsenal lost to Birmingham in the League Cup final. Stoke have the wind in their sails now and Allen fizzes a cross-shot in from the right that Foster has to repel.
82 min: Two goals here, though, eh? Was there ever any doubt?
81 min: West Brom will be kicking themselves and Pulis will be fuming. Stoke had offered nothing since going behind and Albion appeared to be getting stronger. One lapse in an otherwise watertight performance, and here we are.
Goal! West Brom 1-1 Stoke (Crouch 77)
That one came from nowhere too! And ... ohhhhh ... what a mistake by the otherwise immaculate Hegazi! Foster has a relatively simple job of collecting a delivery from the left but Hegazi, for no reason at all, wafts a foot at it and the ball ricochets up away from them both. It leaves Crouch, lurking behind, with the very simplest of headers from three yards. It seems Hegazi didn’t hear Foster’s call – and what an un-West Brom-like error that was.
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77 min: Shawcross defends that one and Yacob makes a total hash of his subsequent attempt at the spectacular. And moments later ...
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76 min: Rondon, working hard as ever without posing a direct goal threat, scurries down the channel and wins another corner. Crouch wins two consecutive headers to get it out, but McClean drills it back in from range and it deflects out for yet another flag kick.
74 min: Not quite, but Rodriguez meets it at the far post and, although the header never looks a great threat, it actually bounces out off the top of the bar. That’s the prompt for James McClean to replace Phillips.
73 min: Ooops, Butland has a relatively simple gather as a long pass drifts beyond Phillips but he takes his eye off it and it slips away for a right-sided corner. Will he be made to pay?
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72 min: In an alternative universe, Chelsea are still two up against Everton.
70 min: Barry wins the ball from Shaqiri with the cleanest tackle you will ever see. He then plays a loose pass but, no mistake, he has been very good here. His midfield partner, Morrison, is now replaced by Claudio Yacob, while Stoke bring on the attack-minded Sobhi for Cameron.
68 min: Crouch leaps to meet a delivery from Pieters and, even though the ball doesn’t trouble the goal, there may be some small encouragement there.
Good to see West Brom are well on their way to the magical forty-point mark. They might be able to drop the intensity in January this year
— Alan Smith (@alansmith90) August 27, 2017
It is something to aim for.
67 min: Headed away by Shawcross – but Albion are seeking blood.
66 min: Could have been two – should have been two? Hegazi meets a free-kick six yards out, gets it on target ... but Butland flips it over sharply! Another corner.
66 min: “This game isn’t boring! It’s one for the purists. Why are we so reliant on goals as a form of stimulation? What about a nice firm pass? Or a well taken throw-in?” quips Dan Osborn. Who was it that said goals are overrated?
64 min: It’s going to be a difficult half hour for Stoke now. They’ve dominated the ball here but chances have been few and far between as it is. Crouch might be a necessary means of mixing things up.
62 min: Didn’t see that coming, did we? West Brom are just so good at finding a way, even if there are elements of their game that you wouldn’t watch if it was on in your back garden. Peter Crouch immediately comes on for the very quiet Jese.
Goal! West Brom 1-0 Stoke (Rodriguez 61)
From nothing! It’s great work from the excellent Nyom, who sprints beyond the puffing Shaqiri on the right and whips in a fine cross that goes beyond Rondon and bounces up for Rodriguez, anticipating perfectly, to thud a header beyond Butland!
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60 min: Choupo-Moting looks for space in a pocket in front of the box but Barry, imperious here, nudges him away.
59 min: Sky have just apologised for technical issues preventing them showing replays but, honestly, there has been nothing in this second half to replay.
57 min: And because the floodgates are opening in my mailbox, if nowhere else, this from Adam Timmins:
“You gotta love the fact that the reason Stoke got rid of Pulis was because they ‘wanted to move up to the next level’, and since then have done - to quote Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black - ‘precisely, d**k’.”
56 min: Charles Antaki wonders something that I, too, sometimes wonder: “Strip determinism - I wonder if the dullness of the game is caused in any sort of magical-thinking way by the simple dullness of these two sides’ strips? Red stripe on white. Dark blue strip on white. Yes, I know that they’re historical and authentic. But this are also usually the cheapest kits you can buy when trying to equip a park team on a no-budget basis. Perhaps it’s playing on the teams’ minds.”
55 min: Laurence from Winchester has bad news for us – “JR has offered to be the hex but ‘ain’t no way there are going to be goals scored’ is in fact a double negative So JR is about as committed to his statement as these teams are to actually scoring in this game.”
54 min: Choupo-Moting is harshly penalised when the ball pops up onto his arm after a low Cameron cross, and that little glimmer fades for Stoke.
52 min: Rodriguez is booked for a take-it-for-the-team foul on Pieters, who was charging towards the West Brom area. The free kick comes to nothing, so job done.
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50 min: Phillips’ delivery is decent but Shawcross gets it away, and Phillips is caught offside when the ball is returned to him.
49 min: Rodriguez gets into more space down the left but runs into trouble as he nears the box. Fletcher has tracked him and comes away from the ball. West Brom look a bit brighter on the ball in these early stages, with a few more runners. Now they win a corner kick via Brunt ...
48 min: Shaqiri produces a couple of nice stepovers but can’t outfox the very solid Hegazi, who is in West Brom’s team to stay, I think.
47 min: Some early purpose from the Baggies but Cameron snuffs out a Rodriguez sortie, before Rodriguez does similar against Shaqiri at the other end.
Peeeeeeeep! The second half begins
No changes. No surprises.
Still here? The second half is coming up. Echoing the earlier point by JR, I wonder if Oliver Burke will come on later for WBA. Fine talent and a shame it didn’t work out in Leipzig. One of his problems there was his “defensive hard drive” – but presumably it’s been loaded up enough to satisfy Pulis.
JR lends us a hand: “This one’s going to end 0-0 isn’t it? You can admit it. Maybe this game needs for someone to confidently say ‘This game will end goalless’ in order to hex themselves and then look foolish when they are proven wrong. I’ll be glad to volunteer. But seriously, ain’t no way there are going to be any goals scored in this game.”
Happy to leave the hexing to someone else after writing this on Friday. Ipswich went on to lose.
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Half-time: West Brom 0-0 Stoke
Pretty much to the letter of what you’d expected, really. West Brom not threatening much beyond set pieces, Stoke having more of the ball but finding it tough to break them down. Zouma’s deflected shot, very well saved by Foster, is as close as we’ve come. Surely there’ll be a clear chance or two after the break. If that doesn’t persuade you to stick with us, nothing will!
45 min: Nyom has probably been the best player of this half. He mops up again on West Brom’s right.
44 min: Livermore tries to slide Rodriguez down the line but it’s just too far in front of him. West Brom’s threat has increased although that is not saying much at all.
43 min: It’s cleared though, and now Choupo-Moting can break. He finds Shaqiri, who quickly spots Jese’s run, but he’s crowded out and skews the ball behind under pressure from – again – Nyom.
41 min: West Brom appeal for handball when a Jese shot pings up off Brunt but it never really looked on. Phillips then finds some rare space at the other end but nobody attacks the cross ... and then he runs onto a Brunt delivery at the far post, drills it across and Shawcross has to thump the ball behind for a corner. Better.
41 min: Hypothetically, what if Chelsea were 2-0 up against Everton thanks to a Morata header?
39 min: Rodriguez causes brief interest with a nice ball from the left but Shawcross clears; then Nyom spoons a cross up for Butland to claim. West Brom looking a bit livelier now but they have done nothing with the ball in open play.
38 min: Same again, almost – Brunt aims for Dawson round the back stick and Butland is up but can’t claim properly. This time, though, it is deemed that he was fouled.
37 min: Dawson wins a corner on the right after Stoke can’t clear a free kick. West Brom haven’t done a lot going forwards since the first few minutes so this is a welcome chance. Brunt again goes fairly deep and Butland can only get a finger to it on the stretch, but Cameron is on hand to help it away from any interested parties. And now Rondon wins a free kick near to the same corner flag ...
34 min: Superb play from Fletcher sends Jese scampering away down the left but Nyom marshals him really well, holds him up and eventually confuses him into running the ball out of play.
33 min: Nyom is heavily involved again, and audibly yelps as Pieters scythes him down after being beaten to the ball. Yellow card for the Stoke man. No real complaints either.
32 min: Dangerous Stoke free kick on the right – in theory, anyway, but Shaqiri’s underdone delivery is headed away by Rodriguez, who had conceded it.
31 min: Nyom fouls Jese with an outstretched arm across the face, causing a pretty dramatic reaction, which itself prompts anger from the Cameroon international. All are now up and about again.
30 min: The tempo has dropped here but it should be said that Stoke – for whom Choupo-Moting heads wide from a Martins Indi cross – look the likelier.
28 min: If I told you Chelsea were playing Everton and Cesc Fabregas had just put them one up, would you believe me?
26 min: Stoke turn West Brom’s midfield around the the first time, really, and Shaqiri finds Cameron in a good position on the right. His shot lacks any kind of conviction though, and is sidefooted well wide of the near post.
25 min: Save by Foster! Zouma carries the ball a long way upfield, looks a little surprised, and then lets fly from 25 yards. It deflects off Barry, spins up in the air and is going to drop into the net before the West Brom ‘keeper reacts well to tip over. The corner results in a rather strange blowing of the whistle that baffles everybody.
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24 min: Barry again distributes well and finds Rondon, who has dropped off, to feet. Rondon then looks to play in someone running beyond him. But there isn’t anyone running beyond him.
23 min: I’m enjoying this game, I genuinely am, but I do think it will be decided by a single goal at best.
21 min: I can hear chants of “Tony Pulis, your football is sh*t” from the travelling wags. I think their banter is worse – Stoke wouldn’t be here without him.
20 min: Phillips gets to the byline for the first time after receiving a lovely switch from Barry, but crosses into the side netting.
18 min: Choupo-Moting engages Nyom, this time on the left of the box, and goes over once more. Again nothing doing although I think the fall was more down to his own contortion in trying to wriggle past the defender.
18 min: Engaging stuff so far then, without much in the way of chances really. There’s a bit of dissent at the moment regarding a Stoke throw-in, which is eventually taken without incident after a spot of pointing and shouting.
16 min: In the meantime, Stoke scramble to clear a West Brom long throw and then an inviting Nyom cross is gathered by Butland. Somebody could have attacked that.
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15 min: JR writes – “Of course every Premier League game is available here in the U.S. (though this year NBC has forced us to pay $50 for what last year was free, but I digress) so if, for example, there was another game beside West Brom v Stoke happening I might just be keeping half an eye on that one.
“Most of my attention will be on the Baggies though as they’re my club. Wonder if, when, or how much we’ll see of Oliver Burke.”
14 min: Shaqiri is given too much space to cut in on his left foot, but doesn’t make a good connection and is fortunate to win a corner via a deflection. He takes it himself and Zouma, rising with Hegazi, looks for a moment as if he could power it home – but he is distracted just enough by his rival’s jump and loops his header over.
12 min: Martins Indi bundles Rondon over and West Brom take the free kick quickly. Their approach has been more about speed and brawn then poise, so far, but it’s making for a fun tussle. The move comes to nothing here, mind you.
11 min: Now West Brom’s third corner. It’s been a lively enough start here and the tempo is good. Brunt goes over again, unfurls that left foot ... but crosses beyond the back post and out. What a waste. Unusual; his set pieces are usually a huge plus.
9 min: Stoke win a corner now, which Shawcross volleys towards goal. It’s stuffed but Martins Indi gets a toe on it, diverting the ball not that far wide of an unguarded far post.
8 min: Hegazi leaves Choupo-Moting on the floor. Think he fouled him, but nothing is given. Nothing is given moments later, either, when Choupo-Moting breaks into the box on the right, goes down under Brunt’s challenge – but no penalty! Right decision, should have been booked for a dive.
7 min: Any success for Stoke might depend on how long they are able to retain possession with their more technical players. They have a long spell on the ball now, building patiently, and at the end of it Foster has to come out alertly to punch Shaqiri’s cross away from Pieters.
5 min: It’s whipped in by Phillips, nicks off someone at the near post, and Martins Indi has to concede another corner on the other side – West Brom’s right. Brunt swings this one in ... and Morrison gets a little bit of space at the back post, but he sees it a bit late and glances wide.
4 min: Rondon holds off Shawcross – should be a good battle, that – and wins a corner from the centre back ...
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2 min: Butland has to clear ahead of – I think – Barry after some dithering from Pieters. West Brom have started the better, if it means anything yet.
1 min: Both sides wearing white stripes and white shorts, which on a sunny day isn’t the most convenient look. For onlookers, anyway.
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Peeeeep! Stoke get us underway.
Let’s do this.
Don't be sniffy about West Brom v Stoke. These two hate each other. Could be juicy.
— Nick Miller (@NickMiller79) August 27, 2017
Nick knows. Not this Nick, that Nick.
The teams are striding out at the Hawthorns. It’s a beautiful day. Nearly ready ...
Matt Loten writes: “I have a proposal: how about we all mutually agree, whatever one’s personal stylistic preferences, to appreciate Tony Pulis for preserving the art of defending in an era when many managers treat it with disdain? I fully understand scoring goals is the aim of the game, but keeping them out is just as vital, and watching a well-drilled backline repel the league’s top talents is satisfying in its own right. Klopp, Guardiola and their ilk seem to think that defensive ability is irrelevant if you have stellar forwards, and perhaps Pulis goes too far the other way, but there’s no reason it should be an either/or choice between thrilling forward play and competent defending.”
It’s an interesting point. Will specialist defenders even exist in a decade?
Mark Hughes: “Our form’s good at the moment in my view. Beating Arsenal was a continuation of that form, I’m pleased with the level of performance we’re putting in at the moment.”
Tony Pulis: “It’d be absolutely fantastic [to go second] but we have to get through a tough game, a local derby, we have to be right on it and make sure we’re not complacent at all.”
“It feels very unnatural to see a Tony Pulis team field only half as many centre-backs (Dawson, Hegazi) as his opponents (Zouma, Shawcross, Cameron, Martins Indi),” points out Doremus Schafer.
By the way, Hegazi has been good so far hasn’t he? Scored the winner against Bournemouth, impressed against Burnley. I watched him at the Africa Cup of Nations in January and his name was seared into my eardrums by Jonathan Wilson, often of this parish, who couldn’t stop raving about him. Wilson was, of course, right.
Not to put a dampener on things but I think these two sides are perfect examples of the frustration and ultimate futility that life beneath the Premier League’s top six – plus whatever odd faction of their own Everton are in – and the others involves these days. I tried to explain that, using the context of West Brom, in their pre-season preview a couple of weeks back:
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Teams
West Brom: Foster, Nyom, Dawson, Hegazi, Brunt, Phillips, Livermore, Barry, Morrison, Rodriguez, Rondon. Subs: Yacob, Myhill, McClean, Burke, Chadli, Field, Kane Wilson.
Stoke: Butland, Zouma, Shawcross, Cameron, Martins Indi, Fletcher, Allen, Pieters, Shaqiri, Jese, Choupo-Moting. Subs: Johnson, Berahino, Adam, Crouch, Krkic, Sobhi, Grant.
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Fletcher starts on his old stomping ground. Saido Berahino is on the bench! Digest all that, and I’ll be back in a bit. Do fire off some emails, too. What sets your pulse racing about this one?
Do not adjust your sets
This is an MBM of West Brom v Stoke, not Chelsea v Everton. That match isn’t on telly on the UK so it doesn’t actually exist. However, the Darren Fletcher Derby very much does so here we are, on a very bright and perky Sunday lunchtime, for a clash that should tell us plenty about which of these sides is more likely to finish 13th.
That’s not quite fair. West Brom are, as they say, “two for two” and were efficient in 1-0 wins over Bournemouth and Burnley. They are making use of quite a kind early run of fixtures and you wouldn’t bet against Tony Pulis, against his old club, pulling off a similar kind of stunt here. They might not have brought in all the players they wanted yet this pre-season, but West Brom and Pulis just keep on finding a way to make it all happen.
So do Stoke and Mark Hughes, really, even if last season finished limply and if this one began unpromisingly with a defeat at Everton. Fortunately they had Arsenal at home after that game and were back on top of their game, debutant Jese scoring the winner and giving hope that, as a club, they might be able to heave themselves forward once more.
Three points here might help with that one. Three points for West Brom would send them second, or joint-top if Pulis goes wild and they win by eight. Don’t go anywhere else – well, you can’t, really, as there definitely aren’t any other games on.
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Nick will be here soon enough. Until then, read our match preview:
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