A first-half goal from Charlie Adam was enough to earn Stoke a 1-1 draw with a struggling Sunderland.

Connor Wickham gave the visitors the lead 58 seconds into the game but Stoke dominated from there with; Marko Arnautovic, Jonathan Walters and Stephen Ireland all coming close. Jermain Defoe missed a great chance to double Sunderland’s lead before Adam equalised in the 26th minute. Sunderland dominated the second period with Wickham and Billy Jones all close to regaining the lead but ultimately the points were shared.

Sunderland went into the game knowing a win was vital after an embarrassing showing in the 4-1 defeat to Crystal Palace last week which left them just a point above the relegation zone. Mark Hughes’ side had no such worries sitting ninth in the Premier Leaguer table and were just five points of beating their record points tally in the top flight.

Sunderland couldn’t have started the game any better taking the lead within the first minute, a fumble from Asmir Begovic was latched upon by Wickham who hit it into the bottom corner from close range to give his side the lead.

After going behind Stoke dominated proceedings and received a free kick in a dangerous area in the fourth minute, Arnautovic stepped up but his effort came back off the wall. Five minutes later Walters produced a good save for Castan Pantilimon, the striker struck a sweet shot towards goal and the Romanian did well to palm it away.

Ireland then a good opportunity to equalise in 14th minute, the midfielder showed good technique to get the shot off on the volley but unfortunately for him it was deflected just wide of the mark. Defoe had a brilliant opportunity to double his sides lead in the 24th minute when he was put through on goal but he could only find the side netting.

Dick Advocaat’s lived to regret that wasted opportunity when Stoke equalised two minutes later, the ball was deflected to Adam on the edge of the area and he a hit blistering shot into the top corner.

Sunderland came flying out of the traps in the second period and a mistake from Phillip Wollscheid nearly gifted them a second goal, the defender carelessly gave the ball away and Wickham was put through on goal but Ryan Shawcross recovered brilliantly to tackle the striker.

Diouf nearly gave the home side the lead in the 67th minute, the striker brilliantly chested down the free kick into the box before hitting the shot but Pantilimon rushed off his line to close the angle and produced a good save.

Stoke continued to press their opponents going into the final stages and Adam nearly gave his side the lead in 86th minute, the midfielder hit a curling which looked to be creeping into the bottom corner of the net but Pantilimon once again did well to save the effort.

This hard earned point kept Stoke within a firm shout of finishing inside the top half of the table which would be seen as success for the Potters but they may have felt they could have took all three.

Sunderland drastically improved on their performance from last week’s poor showing and could have quite easily won and Defoe buried his chance in the first half before Stokes equaliser it could have been a very different. Despite this point Sunderland have dropped into the drop zone for the second time this season and with a tough run in Sunderland could face an uphill task to survive.

Stoke (1) Sunderland (1)
Begovic 6 Pantilimon 6
Cameron 5 Jones 5
Shawcross 7 O'shea 5
Wollschied 5 Coates 5
Pieters 5 Van Aanholt 6
N'Zonzi 7 Gomez 6
Adam 7 Cattermole 6
Walters 6 Rodwell 5
Ireland 6 Buckley 5
Arnautovic 5 Defoe 5
Diouf 5 Wickham 6
Subsitutes:
Odemwingie 5 Graham 5
Bardsley 5
Crouch 5
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About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.