After a disappointing defeat at Newcastle on Saturday, Mark Hughes Stoke side were hoping for their first victory of the new year against Everton. It looked to be 3 points for Stoke until Leighton Baines netted a penalty in added time.
As the whistle blew for kick off, the Britannia Stadium was roaring with anticipation from two founding members of the football league's fans, both hoping to kick 2014 off with three points to their name.
As the game got underway, Stoke were the better team, forcing Everton to make some early mistakes infront of their own fans, creating anxiety and trepidation; However, Stoke could not maximize their efforts, with the first real chance coming in the 10th minute, with Charlie Adam escaping his marker and getting his shot away to the returning Howard's right hand side, only to be saved comfortably.
Everton had not got into the game in these early stages, and were eager to get possession of the ball to slow the tempo of the game down. But Stoke wouldn't allow them much time, chasing down loose balls and getting stuck in to win it back.
Just as Everton were settling down on the ball, an abrupt Stoke counter in the 18th minute attack led to a fantastic delivery by Jonathan Walters- a boyhood Everton fan- being headed inches wide of Howard's net by Peter Crouch.
As both the hosts and visitors were looking for an opening, neither could find one, and both sides were growing impatient and agitated, culminating in various scrappy challenges, mostly against Hughes' side. Understandably, the former Everton player was resentful, often having heated words with the fourth official.
It took almost half and hour for Everton's first real sight of goal, with Kevin Mirallas skipping past a couple of Stokes defenders, resulting in a venomous strike from the Belgian, completely beating Sorensen, only to be denied by the upside of the crossbar.
Kevin Mirallas was gifted another opportunity to score when Pienaar was fouled 20 yards out. He struck the costless kick to Sorensen's right hand side, beating the keeper once more, but the shot was struck with such curve, it curled to much, rattling the post once more.
At half time, the score remained 0-0, with the hosts, Stoke, the better team, looking more threatening when on the ball, especially when charging down the flanks on the break. As the teams came back on, there was only one change; Jack Butland made his premier league debut in place of the injured Sorensen.
It became clear that at half time, Martinez had instructed his players to hold up the ball, slow down play and get some early possesion; This proved though, as the likes of Walters, Assaidi and Adam closed down the Everton midfield with real pace and aggresion, forcing mistakes but not resulting in menacing situations for Everton to deal with.
As Stoke kept on pushing, the ball dropped to Assaidi on the edge of the 18 yard box in the 50th minute, who was able to use quick feet, dribbling round Evertons defence, finally unleashing a powerful shot into the bottom right hand corner. The loanee from Evertons rivals, Liverpool, now has 3 goals to his name this season, taking him one behind Stokes top goal scorer, Charlie Adam.
Straight from kick off, Everton were looking ambitious, wanting the vital goal to take them level. Breaking down Stoke's defence was a tough job, with Ryan Shawcross and Marc Wilson proving resiliant in the heart of Stoke's back line. The first opportunity Everton had to take the score level, was another costless kick in almost the same position as tthe one in the first half. Mirallas struck again, only to hit the wall.
70 minutes into the game, Martinez hoped that his substitues Leon Osman and Nickita Jelavic could turn the game around, coming on for Pienaar and McCarthy. Hughes also made his first change bringing on Pennant for Walters. These substitutes really changed the match, with Pennant giving away several careless costless kicks and Osman controlling play in midfield for Everton.
Four minutes added time was indicated, with Stoke looking fatigued yet holding their shape which had proved to be crucial for them so far. As Leon Osman tricked his way through numerous challenges, he was belatedly taken down by a challenge from the substitute Jermain Pennant. A chance for Leighton Baines who had been out for a month after suffering a broken toe. This did not effect him however, as he calmly struck the ball into the bottom right hand corner, sending Butland the wrong way.
A draw was undeserved for Stoke, with a magnificent defensive display, only to be ruined by a late penalty, taking away two of the three points possible.
