Stoke City 1 Aston Villa 1 - Report and pictures

The winger fired home his first goal since last March as Dean Smith’s men came from behind on an emotional day the Bet365 Stadium.

Stoke, who paid tribute to the late Gordon Banks, had gone ahead through Sam Vokes’s early backheeled finish.

Adomah brought Villa level just past the hour mark before Potters goalkeeper Jack Butland denied the visitors a winner when he saved from Tammy Abraham and Tyrone Mings.

Analysis

The victory would have been a deserved one for Villa, who controlled the game for long periods.

The draw, in truth, did nothing to help their already dwindling play-off hopes. The form book still shows a run of just two wins in 15 matches.

But this was also an afternoon which saw them take a definite step forward, albeit against a Stoke team clearly lacking confidence.

Smith, who had changed his team’s shape by playing two up front, saw his already lengthy injury list grow when Alan Hutton was forced off after just six minutes.

Vokes gave Stoke the lead while the Scot was off the field receiving treatment and the visitors temporarily down to 10.

But Villa rallied impressively and were it not for a lack of composure in the final third, would likely have won comfortably.

Adomah got them back on level terms when he fired home following excellent work by Anwar El Ghazi, before Butland saved headers from Abraham and Mings as the winner proved elusive.

Villa’s team featured three changes from the derby defeat to Albion, the most notable of which occured in goal where Jed Steer replaced Lovre Kalinic, the latter taking a place on the bench after clearing concussion protocol.

With John McGinn missing through suspension, Smith drafted in both El Ghazi and Jonathan Kodjia, the latter partnering Abraham up front in a 4-4-2 formation.

Stoke’s team featured former Wolves skipper Danny Batth in central defence.

The build-up to the game was an emotional one with the home team paying tribute to England’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Banks.

It included a three-minute video montage, minute’s silence, while the Stoke legend’s family laid a wreath in the centre circle, along with the game’s two goalkeepers, Steer and Jack Butland.

When the action got underway, Villa’s start could not have been worse, as they lost Hutton and went behind inside the opening five minutes.

The Scot was off the field getting treatment when Sam Clucas then advanced down his side of the pitch and sent in a low cross which Vokes skilfully sent beyond Steer with his heel, the goalkeeper getting a hand on the effort but not being able to stop it rolling over the line.

It was the Potters first goal at home for more than a month and the fourth consecutive game in which Villa had conceded first.

It also proved to be Vokes’s only contribution of the match as he too was forced off early by injury, replaced by Mame Diouf.

Dealing with setbacks has been a problem for Villa of late but here their response was decent and of the two teams, they created the better openings in the rest of the half.

It was frustrating, then, that their execution in the final third was so poor. More than once promising moves broke down due to a bad final ball, their lack of composure best summed up when El Ghazi, having been left with just Butland to beat following Tom Edwards’s slip, blazed hurriedly over the bar.

Villa continued to make most of the running early in the second period, forcing a series of corners.

But it was the hosts who would have the period’s first shot on target, Steer holding on to Tom Ince’s volley from a James McClean cross.

Finally, on 61 minutes, Villa got the goal they had been threatening. El Ghazi was the creator, bursting away from Edwards down the left wing and delivering a low cross which, while just out of Abraham’s reach, rolled perfectly into the path of Adomah to fire into the bottom corner.

It was Villa’s first goal away from home since December 29. Moments later they almost had a second, Kortney Hause delivering a cross which Abraham rose to head goalwards, Butland diving to his left to claw the ball away.

The keeper pulled off further heroics in stoppage time, brilliantly pushing over Mings’s powerful header as Villa were denied.

Key Moments

5 - GOAL Villa get off to the worst possible start as Sam Vokes puts Stoke ahead. The former Wolves man beats Jed Steer with a classy backheel.

61 GOAL Villa level. Anwar El Ghazi bursts down the left wing and sends in a low cross which Albert Adomah fires into the bottom corner.

Teams

Stoke (4-1-4-1): Butland, Edwards, Martins Indi, Batth ©, Clucas, Adam (Williams 65), Ince (Afobe 73), Allen, Etebo, McClean, Vokes (Diouf 16) Subs not used: Shawcross, Bojan, Woods, Federici (gk).

Villa (4-4-2): Steer, Hutton © (Adomah 6 (Green 85)), Elphick, Mings, Hause, Elmohamady Whelan, Hourihane, El Ghazi, Abraham, Kodjia Subs not used: Taylor, Jedinak, Bjarnason, Ramsey, Kalinic (gk).