Stoke City vs. Coventry: Recap and 3 Takeaways
Stoke City vs. Coventry: Recap and 3 Takeaways
Recap
Stoke City came into Saturday’s match 7th place in the Championship. After a choppy 0-0 draw against Coventry, they picked up a point but remained in 7th place, just two points back of a playoff spot.
Stoke made 4 changes from their previous match against Spurs – Bursik, Chester, Powell and Fletcher all came in. Stoke fielded a 3-5-2, a formation they haven’t used since a September cup match against Wolves.
First Half
Tommy Smith had an unusually sloppy first half, a few missed passes including a back pass to Bursik that was lucky not to find the back of the net
33′ Jacob Brown puts in a shot but Ben Wilson makes an impressive save
40′ Cousins gets in the way of a shot for a block on a clear chance
Thompson misses a volley just past the post on a cross by Brown
Second Half
51′ Thompson hits the crossbar off a Jacob Brown feed into the box.
63′ Joe Allen in for Jordan Thompson
83′ Steven Fletcher almost puts away a header, just drifts wide
Players of the match for Stoke were Jordan Cousins, Nick Powell, and Jacob Brown.
Taking a look at the match stats, Stoke were clearly the better side, especially in the second half. They won out in possession, passes, touches, aerials won, interceptions, shots attempted, and crosses. The one glaring stat for Stoke would be shots on target. For Stoke, just 2/11 shots found the target. Despite a number of clear opportunities, they just could not find the net enough.
3 Takeaways
1- Nick Powell is our best chance at creating
Great match from Nick Powell, he was Stoke’s best scoring option and looked dangerous. Though the match was choppy, if anything was going to happen for Stoke, Powell was going to play a part in it. Powell also kept up pressure on the back line and almost got a goal in the 13′ when he forced Ben Wilson into a mistake in front of his goal.
2- Joe Allen looked impressive
Joe Allen looked good in his Championship return for the Potters. He played just about a half-hour and looked energetic and aggressive. Having Allen back in the squad will be huge for Stoke as they look for something to help push them towards a playoff spot. If Stoke can manage another forward signing and also get Allen back into regular play it will be a clear upgrade.
3- Clean Sheet
Stoke add yet another clean sheet to their impressive defensive performance this year. On the season, they have 12 clean sheets in the Championship (tied with Swansea for first in this category) and continue to look incredibly tough to break down.