Wednesday 31st August 2022
bet365 Stadium
19:45

STO Stoke

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SWA Swansea

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31st August
Joel Piroe cele Stoke

Swansea City were denied just a second win in the Potteries since 2001 as Tyrese Campbell's last-gasp strike snatched a point for Stoke at the bet365 Stadium.

Joel Piroe had grabbed his second goal of the season with a fine finish from Matty Sorinola’s excellent cross in just the sixth minute.

Swansea could easily have added to their tally, Ollie Cooper, Piroe, Jay Fulton and Matt Grimes all having good opportunities.

And, despite defending stoically for so much of the night, they paid for those missed chances when substitute Tyrese Campbell finished from close range as the Swans suffered more late disappointment.

There had been four changes from the defeat at Middlesbrough with Cooper handed a first league start for the Swans, while Harry Darling, Sorinola and Fulton also returned to the starting line-up.

Jamie Paterson was fit enough for a place on the bench, as were new loan signings Luke Cundle and Armstrong Oko-Flex.

Swansea would have wanted to make a good start but they should have been a goal down with less than three minutes played.

Joel Piroe Stoke cele

Fulton was slow to reach to Andy Fisher’s pass, which allowed Morgan Fox to pick the ball off and immediately look to chip the Swansea keeper from 40 yards.

He succeeded, but saw the ball bounce down off the bar, with Fisher then scrambling to palm Dwight Gayle’s follow-up header off the line.

An Aden Flint header then caused more problems from a corner, with Swansea surviving a goalmouth scramble.

But it was the Swans who took the lead in the sixth minute. Sorinola produced a magnificent ball in from the right flank which picked out Piroe’s run, and the Dutchman produced a lovely first-time finish to find the bottom corner.

The game settled down following the goal, after the most frantic of starts, with Swansea seeing plenty of the ball and growing in composure.

They could have doubled their lead in the 16th minute, a smart move seeing Allen tee up Sorinola to cross. The final ball was a good one and Piroe’s stepover looked set to let Fulton stretch to tap in, but the Scot could not quite make contact with the ball.

The combination of Sorinola and Piroe should have extended the advantage six minutes later. Darling produced a superb raking pass to find the wing-back, but his final pass was just too far ahead of the striker.

Ollie Cooper Stoke

The Dutchman then hesitated for a vital moment when Cooper – who had looked lively – had surged down the left and pulled the ball back.

At the other end former Swan Ben Wilmot glanced a header just wide after being left free from an inswinging corner.

But Swansea were soon back on the front foot. Joe Allen forcing a save from Jack Bonham in the Stoke goal, before Cooper’s spectacular overhead kick flew inches wide.

The clearer chances were all going the way of the visitors, and Bonham did well to push a deflected Piroe shot away for a corner as the half ended with the visitors in the lead.

The visitors threatened again seconds after the restart. The lively Cooper driving forward to see a deflected strike fall just the wrong side of the post, before Grimes had a shot blocked from a clever corner routine moments later.

However, Flint missed an absolute sitter at the other end as he planted a free header well over the crossbar.

Kyle Naughton made an important block to cut out a Wilmot cross as the hosts began to pepper the Swansea box with a string of corners and long throws.

Matty Sorinola Stoke

But the visitors were carrying a real threat and Cooper and Manning teed up Piroe for a header that Bonham palmed to safety after the Swans had beaten the press in their own third to find space.

The game was becoming stretched and Martin sent on Olivier Ntcham and Paterson to provide fresh legs in place of the tireless Fulton and impressive Cooper.

Grimes and Allen threw their bodies on the line to block a Liam Delap effort, while Nathan Wood won a number of key aerial battles as time began to tick down.

The final moments were predictably frenetic,  and Swansea could not see it out as Campbell - moments after sending a free header well wide - arrived to prod home a Flint knockdown in the final seconds of the 90 minutes.

Stoke City: Jack Bonham, Morgan Fox, Aden Flint, Sam Clucas, Lewis Baker (captain), Jacob Brown, Dwight Gayle (Tyrese Campbell 68), Jordan Thompson (Will Smallbone 68), Ben Wilmot, Liam Delap, Connor Taylor (Tariqe Fosu-Henry 68)..

Unused Substitutes: Joe Bursik, Phil Jagielka, D'margio Wright-Phillips, Tom Saprrow.

Swansea City: Andy Fisher; Nathan Wood, Kyle Naughton, Harry Darling; Matty Sorinola (Michael Obafemi 79), Joe Allen, Jay Fulton (Olivier Ntcham 69), Matt Grimes (captain), Ryan Manning; Ollie Cooper (Jamie Paterson 69); Joel Piroe.

Unused Substitutes: Steven Benda, Luke Cundle, Liam Cullen, Armstrong Oko-Flex.

Referee: David Webb