標題: Premier League - Stoke hold Newcastle [打印本頁] 作者: cchl8 時間: 2008-12-7 03:14 AM 標題: Premier League - Stoke hold Newcastle
An injury-time goal from Abdoulaye Faye earned Stoke City a 2-2 Premier League draw at Newcastle United as they came from two goals down in a match that saw Toon boss Joe Kinnear sent to the stands.
Faye's last-ditch strike and a goal on the hour from Mamady Sidibe pegged back the hosts, who raced 2-0 ahead thanks to a brace from Michael Owen in the opening 25 minutes.
A furious Kinnear was sent to the stands by referee Mike Riley in the final moments of a match which Newcastle should have put to bed long before the referee added five minutes of injury time.
Newcastle dominated the first half, and Owen had already tested Thomas Sorensen with a low shot from the edge of the area before he made the breakthrough after just nine minutes.
The Magpies' skipper scored with a cool finish after a fantastic run and pass by Jonas Gutierrez.
Stoke's best chance of the opening half came after quarter of an hour, when Sidibe pulled a half-volley wide from the edge of the area after he was teed up by a knock-down from a long ball.
Newcastle almost scored a second moments later when Charles N'Zogbia's low cross from the left deflected invitingly into Jonas's path, but a desperate lunge by Stoke defender Danny Higginbotham blocked the Argentinian's goal-bound shot.
N'Zogbia almost scored himself a couple of minutes later when his mis-hit cross came close to catching Sorensen out at the near post, but the Danish keeper just managed to scramble across his line to palm the ball out and away.
But Newcastle did not have to wait long for their second goal, as Obafemi Martins bamboozled Stoke captain Andy Griffin on the left wing and fired the ball across the six-yard box towards Owen, who tapped the ball into an empty net from a yard out.
Newcastle continued to put pressure on the Stoke goal but failed to score after winning a flurry of corners and free-kicks around the box towards the end of the half.
The result seemed a formality at the interval, but Stoke were a completely different proposition in the second half.
Richard Cresswell was put through on goal soon after the restart, only to be denied by a fantastic sliding tackle by substitute Steven Taylor.
Kinnear reportedly ordered his groundsmen to move the advertising hoardings closer to the pitch to disrupt Rory Delap's throw-ins, and with the Irishman's arrowed deliveries failing to cause their usual problems boss Tony Pulis replaced him with Ricardo Fuller (pictured on the far left) after 57 minutes.
And Fuller made an instant impact. Moments after entering the fray he raced into space on the right of the penalty area and squared the ball for Sidibe to pull a goal back.
Newcastle resorted to a rearguard action for the final half hour as Stoke bombarded their area with high balls and Delap-esque long throws from Amdy Faye and Ibrahima Sonko.
That pressure finally paid off in the first minute of injury time when Glenn Whelan's free-kick from the right was flicked on at the near post towards former Newcastle defender Abdoulaye Faye, who shot low past Given from five yards out.
