Stoke forced to share spoils

Stoke were frustrated at the Britannia on Boxing Day as Aston Villa held them to a goalless stalemate.

Villa hold Potters to goalless Boxing Day draw

Stoke were frustrated at the Britannia on Boxing Day as Aston Villa held them to a goalless stalemate. The biggest chance of the clash went to the home side in the second half when Marc Wilson's header was cleared off the line by Gabby Agbonlahor after pinging off the underside of the crossbar, with replays suggesting the whole of the ball was not over the line. Despite that near miss, Villa edged the better of play and had a crucial chance of their own after the break when substitute Nathan Delfouneso was narrowly denied by Stoke 'keeper Thomas Sorensen. The draw leaves Stoke rooted in eighth in the Premier League table, while Villa remain 12th and without a win in three.

Lacking quality

With Peter Crouch and Darren Bent unable to make their returns from illness and injury respectively, both sides lacked attacking quality in the first half, although Villa did hit the woodwork through Emile Heskey, who was subsequently forced off with a recurrence of an Achilles problem. Defeat would have been harsh on Villa, who belied their recent frailties from set-pieces by defiantly standing up to a Stoke side renowned for their aerial prowess. Indeed, Villa boss Alex McLeish may feel his side should have taken all three points after seeing them create the better chances from open play in a match low on quality but high on endeavour. The Potters, who had won four league games in a row for the first time prior to Wednesday's defeat at Manchester City, started the match brightly and Robert Huth headed over an Etherington cross in the second minute. Heskey came agonisingly close to putting Villa ahead in the 21st minute, his header from Charles N'Zogbia's corner striking Sorensen's left-hand post with the goalkeeper well beaten. After becoming the first player to be booked, for a disputed foul on Agbonlahor, Huth then went close again, having been picked out at the far post by Dean Whitehead's free-kick. The away team enjoyed a decent spell prior to the interval and Stiliyan Petrov blasted an effort wide following another break sparked by Ciaran Clark's thunderous challenge on Whitehead. Stoke responded, however, and Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan was forced to make a vital interception at Kenwyne Jones' feet after the Trinidadian striker had looked to get on the end of his own flick-on. Heskey failed to emerge for the second half, so Nathan Delfouneso was introduced by McLeish. After Carlos Cuellar had produced an important header at the back post to prevent Jonathan Walters from connecting with Ryan Shotton's cross, the substitute came close to giving Villa the lead in the 53rd minute. Agbonlahor broke clear down the left before squaring for his strike partner, but Delfouneso's toe-poked finish was blocked by Sorensen's legs. Unsurprisingly, Stoke's main threat continued to come from dead-ball situations and Huth headed over for a third time, from an Etherington corner, shortly after the hour mark. Villa, however, remained sporadically dangerous in open play and N'Zogbia dragged a right-footed shot wide of the near post after cutting in from the left flank. Stoke were left cursing their luck moments later as Wilson met Etherington's centre with a firm header from 10 yards out, only to be denied by a combination of crossbar and Agbonlahor. Sorensen fumbled a tame N'Zogbia free-kick in the 75th minute, but no visiting player was in a position to take advantage.

Aerial bombardment

With long throw specialist Rory Delap having been introduced in place of Wilson Palacios, Villa were forced to face an increasing aerial bombardment in the closing stages. Yet it was the visitors who arguably looked more likely to snatch all three points as they attacked with pace and vigour. A late Delap throw almost brought joy for Stoke, but Petrov's header drifted narrowly wide of his own goal.

Stoke City	Team Statistics	Aston Villa
0	Goals	0
0	1st Half Goals	0
1	Shots on Target	2
6	Shots off Target	6
3	Blocked Shots	2
7	Corners	7
13	Fouls	11
1	Offsides	1
3	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
61.1	Passing Success	75
17	Tackles	23
88.2	Tackles Success	95.7
39.1	Possession	60.9
50.1	Territorial Advantage	49.9
239	Total Passes	404
23	Total Crosses	16