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Match Analysis: West Ham United 1-1 Stoke City

Sports Mole takes a closer look at tonight's Premier League clash between West Ham United and Stoke City at Upton Park.

Stoke City are still waiting for their first Premier League win on their travels since January following a 1-1 draw with West Ham United.

Jonathan Walters opened the scoring for Tony Pulis's men in the first half, but Joey O'Brien got the Hammers back on level terms moments after the break.

Sam Allardyce's men then pushed forward in search of a winner, and looked like the team most likely to snatch one. However, their efforts were in vain as the Potters held out to claim a point.

Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look to see if the result was fair.

Match statistics:

West Ham:
Shots 15
On target5
Possession 58%
Corners 12
Fouls 9

Stoke:
Shots 8
On target 2
Possession 42%
Corners 4
Fouls 9

Was the result fair?

Yes. Stoke had the better of the first half, but West Ham came out a different team after the break. A point was the fair result.

West Ham's performance

6/10. The Hammers set up their usual style, and launched the ball into Andy Carroll quite a bit. The on-loan striker came in for a bit of, not exactly rough, but physical treatment. Ryan Shawcross and Robert Huth didn't allow him a free header all night. West Ham were more threatening down the left with George McCartney and Modibo Maiga, but the goal came from the right. Stoke hadn't woken up after half time and Gary O'Neil found himself with some space to drill the ball into Joey O'Brien. The full-back was being pulled down but angled his shot into the roof of the net to draw his team level. They were more lively after that by Asmir Begovic was comfortable in goal.

Stoke's performance

6/10. Tony Pulis didn't play for the draw tonight, although he did set his team up in a solid formation, with five in midfield and one up front. Jonathan Walters, Charlie Adam and Glenn Whelan were allowed to get forward in the first half, but the Potters couldn't extend their one-goal lead before the break. It was a well-worked corner that they scored from, with shades of Teddy Sheringham in his Tottenham Hotspur heyday. Walters kept his shot low and on target. Stoke came under some pressure in the second half as the hosts upped their game, but held firm to hang on for a point.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Robert Huth: The German was a rock at the heart of Stoke's defence tonight and hardly lost an aerial tussle.

Referee performance

Chris Foy only got his yellow card out once for Mark Noble, but there was lots of pushing and shoving that went unnoticed, which is pretty much what you'd expect from these two physical teams. Andy Carroll was being dragged from pillar to post at times.

What next?

West Ham: The Hammers go to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham Hotspur next week.

Stoke: The Potters host Fulham at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.

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