Town had to share the points with the Potters in their Boxing Day encounter at the John Smith’s Stadium. It was a good Town performance and on another day it could have been a victory.
Here are my player ratings from the game:
Lössl – 9 out of 10
Pulled off a string of amazing saves to keep Stoke out in the first half. One of those saves was 90% over the line before he managed to dig down and stop it going in. His distribution was good, he didn’t make any mistakes I can remember. One of his best performances for Town.
Löwe – 7 out of 10
Will be disappointed that his marker got in front of him for Stoke’s goal, but otherwise had a decent game. He supported van La Parra down the left and provided an option out wide. His corner deliveries continue to be excellent too.
Schindler – 8 out of 10
Another top performance by the German. Broke up play, commanded his area and even managed to win a couple of headers when he went up against Crouch. Was lucky not to have a penalty given against him, but was otherwise excellent.
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Zanka – 8 out of 10
One of the few games where I think he was the better of the two centrebacks, but only marginally. He was caught one on one at the back a few times when Stoke broke forward and he managed to either get a tackle in or shepherd his man away from danger. His pace and composure were excellent.
Smith – 7 out of 10
Had a tough task in trying to contain Choupo-Moting, who was Stoke’s best player in my eyes. Smith did well to stay tight on him and minimised the chances for the Stoke man to run directly at him. There was also some good linkup play between Smith and Quaner down the right-wing, one such combination led to the chance that Ince scored.
Hogg – 9 out of 10
An amazing performance from Hogg. He commanded the midfield and made sure there was no space for Allen or Shaqiri to operate in. There were also a few long balls that Hogg played which found their mark. Typically Hogg leaves the ambitious attacking football to Mooy, but he proved he can ping a forty-yard pass to a teammate too.
Mooy – 8 out of 10
He had a few uncharacteristic loose passes in the first fifteen minutes and looked out of sorts. He must have had a word with himself though, because he grew into the game and towards the end was dictating play and starting off most of our attacks. Some of his through balls were sublime.
van La Parra – 7 out of 10
Was a lively presence down the left-hand side, and almost scored another long-range goal but Butland managed to palm it wide of the post. I’ve not always been VLP’s biggest fan, but he’s won me over with his performances this season, and looks like a Premier League standard player now.
Ince – 8 out of 10
It was wonderful to see him finally get his goal, after going close so often before. He didn’t have to do much to get on the scoresheet, but he kept his cool and got a decent connection with the ball. His confidence seemed to come back after scoring and he popped up all over the place.
Quaner – 9 out of 10
What a player! Quaner looked dangerous every time he got on the ball. While he doesn’t have many tricks up his sleeve, he has an uncanny ability to bundle his way past opposition players. He so often looks like he’s been tackled and walks away with the ball anyway. It’s a joy to watch him in this sort of form, I hope he can continue his run in the first team.
Mounié – 5 out of 10
This was another one of the subdued performances that Mounié occasionally has. In the first half he swung and completely missed the ball when Quaner played a perfect through-ball to him. In the second he scuffed at a decent looking cross at the near post. His timing seemed off.There was also an attempted overhead kick which went over the bar, but wasn’t all that far from going in.
The best thing I can say about Mounié’s performance is that, even though he looked disinterested and didn’t get involved enough, I can still clearly recall three occasions where he could have quite easily scored.
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Substitutes
Depoitre – 8 out of 10
His linkup play was excellent and he managed to get involved in the game much more than Mounié.
Lolley – 7 out of 10
Another promising performance from Lolley. He looked dangerous and could easily have won the game with the chance he had towards the end but he shot over the bar.
Malone – 7 out of 10
Didn’t get much time on the pitch, but was very positive and had a couple of great runs. He played more like a second winger than a fullback, but it was what we needed at the time as we pushed to try and get a winner.