Newcastle United vs Stoke City. Premier League.
St James' Park, NewcastleAttendance47,139.
Saturday 31 October 2015 23:49, UK
Jack Butland was in inspired form as Stoke held Newcastle to a goalless draw at St James' Park on Saturday.
The England goalkeeper proved to be the difference on Tyneside, preserving parity on several occasions with a host of exceptional saves as Newcastle pushed for what would have been a deserved breakthrough.
Aleksandar Mitrovic's header was the closest either side came to scoring in an uneventful first half, but his effort struck the post having evaded the reach of Butland.
Jon Walters came closest to scoring for the visitors, with Rob Elliot producing a similarly spectacular save to deny the Republic of Ireland international after the break.
The result sees Newcastle momentarily leapfrog Sunderland, who play against Everton on Sunday, into 18th position, while Stoke draw level with Swansea on 13 points.
With three of the Premier League's bottom four playing after the Magpies, Saturday's game provided Steve McClaren's side with the perfect opportunity to bounce back from last weekend's Wear-Tyne derby defeat, with a victory moving them out of the Premier League relegation zone.
Yet, after a pulsating opening minute, the hosts could have conceded a penalty when Paul Dummett appeared to clip Bojan on six minutes, but referee Roger East was unmoved.
Stoke created the game's first clear opening on 17 minutes. Charlie Adam's deliciously whipped cross evaded Chancel Mbemba's desperate attempted clearance, seconds before Walters failed to turn the ball home from close range.
Mitrovic then thought he had opened the scoring when he guided Moussa Sissoko's cross from the left towards goal on 28 minutes. But a combination of woodwork, to deny Mitrovic, and Butland, to deny Georginio Wijnaldum from converting the rebound, kept the score level.
Newcastle then had penalty claims of their own turned down on 37 minutes when Ayoze Perez went to ground after losing possession, but again the referee waved the claims away.
Perez's early sighter after half-time failed to draw Butland into action but the Stoke stopper was soon involved, single-handedly denying a string of fine Newcastle efforts.
Wijnaldium's dipping free-kick was tipped away on 50 minutes, while Butland's opposite number, Elliot, was on hand to deny Walters with a point-blank save.
Butland was soon back in the spotlight, rushing off his line to deny Sissoko, after the Frenchman played a neat one-two with Wijnaldum.
Mbemba failed to even test Butland on 56 minutes, missing a gilt-edged close-range header before the Stoke keeper palmed Perez's forceful drive away.
Mitrovic and Philipp Wollschied then clashed, with the former falling to the ground theatrically after a coming together. Again, referee East dealt with the situation well, issuing both players with yellow cards.
Butland then capped off his Man of the Match performance with two exquisite saves at the death, first to deny Sissoko's thunderbolt before tipping substitute Jamaal Lascelles' header over.
Soccer Saturday verdict - Matt le Tissier
"Jack Butland was the difference in this game. Newcastle will be looking at this game and thinking that's two points that have got away.
"Stoke didn't really create too many chances. Rob Elliot only had to make one save I can remember and that was from a Jonathan Walters header.
"Butland made four or five really good saves and on the balance of play Newcastle probably deserved all three points."
Player ratings
Newcastle: Elliot (7), Janmaat (6), Mbemba (6), Coloccini (6), Dummett (5), Sissoko (7), Tiote (5), Anita (5), Wijnaldum (6), Mitrovic (6), Perez (7).
Used subs: De Jong (5), Lascelles (5)
Stoke City: Butland (9), Johnson (6), Shawcross (7), Wollscheid (7), Pieters (7), Adam (6), Whelan (6), Shaqiri (7), Krkic (5), Arnautovic (6), Walters (6).
Used subs: Afellay (6), van Ginkel (5), Crouch (3).
Man of the Match: Jack Butland.
