Stoke City and Swansea City played out a 1-1 draw in the Premier League this evening.
The Potters were quickest off the starting blocks, taking the lead through former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch in the first half.
Swansea were the better side after the break, snatching a deserved equaliser through Chico Flores, but neither team could find a winner.
Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at the match to establish whether 1-1 was a fair result.
Match statistics
Stoke
Shots: 7
On target: 3
Possession: 36%
Corners: 2
Fouls: 11
Swansea
Shots: 13
On target: 3
Possession: 64%
Corners: 5
Fouls: 12
Was the result fair?
It was a close game, but Swansea are more likely to come away thinking it was two points dropped considering how dominant they were in the second half. Stoke edged the first period and deserved their opener through Crouch, but there was a considerable gulf between the two teams after the break and the Swans should have capitalised on their possession.
Stoke's performance
Mark Hughes will no doubt have been pleased with the way his side played in the first half, looking tight at the back and capable of hitting Swansea with a sucker punch. Charlie Adam looked creative this evening and Asmir Begovic was as reliable as ever in goal. However, the Potters rode their luck in the second half and sat back on their laurels at times. They were lucky to come away with a point at the final whistle.
Swansea's performance
The visitors took a while to get going, but once they were up and running they never looked back. They raced off the starting blocks in the second period and thoroughly deserved that equaliser from Chico Flores. Pablo Hernandez was a live wire for most of the match and Wilfried Bony and Nathan Dyer put in a hard night's work. The Swans could quite easily have taken maximum points from this one.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Pablo Hernandez: Even though the Spaniard did not complete the match, he was the driving force behind most of Swansea's attacks until he made way for Jonathan de Guzman. It was his cross that set up Flores's equaliser and his passing was first rate throughout.
Biggest gaffe
Bony takes this honour for failing to find the net from mere yards out late in the second half. Granted, Ryan Shawcross produced an impressive block to deny him on the line, but there was something overly cocky about the way he took his time with his shot, and that was his downfall.
Referee performance
Jonathan Moss put in a good performance this evening, calling all of his yellow card decisions correctly and rightly denying Crouch a late penalty after the former England striker stumbled in the box.
What next?
Stoke: Stoke have this weekend off having crashed out of the FA Cup, before taking on Manchester City away from home the following Saturday.
Swansea: Swansea are away to Everton in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Mark Langshaw
