Stoke City vs Swansea City. Sky Bet Championship.
Bet365 StadiumAttendance18,697.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Stoke City and Swansea at the bet365 Stadium as a late Tyrese Campbell goal earned Alex Neil a point in his first game in charge of the Potters.
Wednesday 31 August 2022 23:25, UK
Tyrese Campbell's stoppage-time strike rescued a point for new Stoke boss Alex Neil as his tenure began with a 1-1 draw against Swansea.
The 41-year-old left his position as Sunderland manager on Sunday to pen a three-year deal at Stoke and endured a frustrating opening to his reign.
An out-of-form Swans side, who had managed only one win from six Sky Bet Championship games prior to this meeting, took the lead in the sixth minute through Joel Piroe.
A second-half Stoke onslaught was eventually rewarded with Neil's bow salvaged by substitute Campbell's late leveller.
It was the Potters who began the brighter of the two sides with the hosts unfortunate not to open the scoring in a fast-paced start.
Firstly, Lewis Baker capitalised on a slack Andy Fisher pass and attempted an audacious lob from range, only for the Swans' stopper to tip the effort onto the bar.
The rebound then fell kindly into the path of Dwight Gayle, yet the forward could not generate enough power on his header to convert beyond a despairing Fisher.
A matter of seconds later, a scramble in the visitors' box saw the ball pop up invitingly for Liam Delap, but he blazed an effort from point-blank range over.
Despite Stoke's lively start to life under new boss Neil, it was the 510 supporters that had made the journey from South Wales who were soon celebrating.
An accurate and inviting delivery by Matthew Sorinola was met by the onrushing Piroe, who had the freedom of the Potteries as he converted with aplomb.
The hosts failed to learn from their mistake as the Swans duo combined again, yet Sorinola's cross just eluded an outstretched Piroe.
The Potters gradually returned to the ascendancy and were unfortunate not to find a leveller as they tested the visitors' loose grip of the game.
Swans' number one Fisher was again spotted off his line - this time by a lively Gayle - but the long-range effort dropped narrowly wide.
Russell Martin's side threatened to add a second through former Potter Joe Allen and goalscorer Piroe, but the hosts had keeper Jack Bonham to thank.
Neil tried to inspire a Stoke resurgence and Aden Flint soon had a chance to hand his new boss a reprieve, but the defender spurned a glorious chance.
The Potters dominated a one-way second half but struggled to break through a dogged Swans defence as Neil looked destined to oversee a loss on his bow.
However, Flint made amends for his earlier miss when he nodded a header back into the danger area for an alert Campbell to prod in a late equaliser.
Stoke's Alex Neil: "Opening night, you're always concerned before you go into the games because I've had 24 hours to work with the players. We hit the bar, should have scored a header and the goal just took the confidence out of us for 15 minutes. I think you could see the lads started to get a little bit edgy and we've got to be braver than that and we've got to keep believing in what we're doing. We spoke about that at half-time. We needed to play with a bit of personality and intensity, and I thought in the second half we were excellent.
"If anybody should have won the game, I thought it should have been us. It's a good squad of players but, the fact is, we've been finishing in the bottom half of the league for the last three seasons, so we need to focus on where we are. These aren't excuses but if you look at the entirety of the squad when you come in, you're thinking that we're in good shape but five are missing. The lads on the pitch though in the second half, all credit to them because they worked extremely hard and left everything on the pitch."
Swansea's Russell Martin: "Given the last two results and with it being Alex's first game here, you'd have probably said a point is a good result before the game. But to concede so late is really frustrating. I can't remember Fisher making a save and their keeper's been much busier. I'm disappointed that we didn't win but I'm extremely proud of the performance and the fight, desire and willingness to run for each other. There were some brilliant performances, but we're just quite not ready yet to go to the next step unfortunately.
"I'm disappointed for the group, I can't be angry, but the goal is just avoidable really. I'm really proud of their efforts and if we continue to show that, then we're going to be more than alright. The Championship's relentless and that's what you get with a young team where people haven't played every week at this level. If you compare the two squads, it's very different. It's a steep learning curve for our young players, it's such an opportunity for them to grow and learn really quickly. It's so exciting for us and the fans have a group of young players here now that can really grow with this club."
