Potters fightback stuns Magpies

Stoke staged a remarkable comeback at St James' Park on Saturday as they claimed a 2-2 draw at Newcastle.

Potters snatch a point at St James' Park

Stoke staged a remarkable comeback at St James' Park on Saturday as they ground out a 2-2 draw with Newcastle. A brace from Michael Owen looked to have handed the Magpies three vital points, but Mamady Sidibe gave the visitors a glimmer of hope in the second half and Abdoulaye Faye struck late on to snatch a share of the spoils. Joe Kinnear's side took the game to their opponents from the off, dominating possession and looking threatening on the flanks. It therefore came as no surprise when they opened the scoring on nine minutes. Jonas Gutierrez was allowed to cut inside from the right, before threading a clever pass into Owen - who made no mistake with a low drive. The England international was looking lively and added a second on 24 minutes when he bundled home Obafemi Martins' cross from close range. Stoke were not prepared to lie down, though, and came storming back after the break. The introduction of Ricardo Fuller gave them an attacking thrust and the Jamaican laid on Sidbe's strike on the hour-mark. He escaped the attentions of his marker as he burst into the box and had enough awareness to pick out his strike partner rather than go for goal himself. Then, as the game ticked into injury-time, Faye was able to brush off Gutierrez and lash home from close range.

Resilience

The Magpies took the game by the scruff of the neck before the break. Goalless draws at Chelsea and Middlesbrough in their previous two games had demonstrated a commendable resilience, but they knew this was a game they needed to win and set about the task with some relish. Owen and Martins revelled in the service they were given back on home turf with the £17million man Owen in particular making the most of the opportunities which came his way. With nine minutes gone Gutierrez cut inside from the right to roll the ball into his path and Owen slid it past Thomas Sorensen and inches inside the post. There was less finesse about his second, lunging in at the far post intent simply on making contact with Martins' driven cross, but the outcome was the same. Indeed, had it not been for the heroics of defender Danny Higginbotham - one of three Sunderland old boys in a Stoke side which included as many former Magpies - who twice blocked Gutierrez shots in front of goal, the game could have been over by the break. The Potters threatened only fleetingly, with some of the sting taken out of Rory Delap's long throw by the close proximity of the advertising hoardings to the playing surface. However, they might have got themselves back into the game six minutes before half-time had former Newcastle defender Faye managed to direct a free header at goal from substitute Glenn Whelan's free-kick.

Inventive

Danny Guthrie's failure to reappear after the break on an afternoon when Nicky Butt missed out with a hamstring injury left Kinnear short of midfield options, and his response was inventive. Gutierrez moved into the middle as Habib Beye took over on the right, with substitute Steven Taylor replacing him at full-back. But in what proved to be an intensely uncomfortable second half for the home side, Ibrahima Sonko headed a 47th-minute Whelan free-kick across goal, and they were opened up for the first time five minutes later. Sidibe found acres of space down the right and had time to pick out Richard Cresswell in the middle. He looked certain to score until Taylor arrived from nowhere to make a superb block and prevent Shay Given from having to make his first genuine save of the game. The threat represented by Delap ended with 57 minutes gone when he was replaced by striker Fuller as the home defence was handed a different test. It was one they failed, as within three minutes the newcomer worked his way into the box from the right and crossed for Sidibe to score from close range. Faye might have levelled in the final minute of normal time, but he made amends in injury time when he stabbed home from Glenn Whelan's free-kick.

Newcastle United	Team Statistics	Stoke City
2	Goals	2
2	1st Half Goals	0
4	Shots on Target	3
4	Shots off Target	8
3	Blocked Shots	2
6	Corners	3
11	Fouls	17
3	Offsides	3
0	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
76.4	Passing Success	72
15	Tackles	17
80	Tackles Success	82.4
54.8	Possession	45.2
41.2	Territorial Advantage	58.8