Stoke Surrender Late in Kiev

Cameron Jerome’s goal just before the hour mark looked to be enough to earn Stoke City all three points away in Kiev.

But a late strike from Ognjen Vukojevic deep in injury time denied the battling Potters a landmark win.

“We are obviously pig sick that we conceded such a late goal but that doesn't take any of the shine off what is an absolutely fantastic result” said Stoke boss Tony Pulis in his post-match press conference.

“We were playing against one of the top sides in Europe and we were more than a match for them. 

“What makes it particularly satisfying is that there were a number of players out there who were starting a game for the first time this season, because they needed to get a game under their belts.”

One of those players making his first start in a Stoke shirt was striker Cameron Jerome. The former Birmingham City player had given the visitors a lead just after half-time, smashing the ball into the roof of Dynamo’s net after neatly controlling Ryan Shotton’s low cross.

Stoke tried to hold on against a Dynamo Kiev side that had pressed the Potters for most of the game and it was no surprise that the Ukrainian side managed to equalize.

Unfortunately for Pulis’ men the equalizer came 3 minutes into injury time when Vukojevic latched onto Andriy Yarmolenko’s cross to break Stoke hearts.

Pulis however remained confident after the game and only had one minor criticism of his men’s performance on the night.

“If there is one slight criticism of our performance though, it is the fact that we need to be a little better in possession of the ball. We work so hard off the ball but there were times when we could have retained possession better.

“The fans will have seen what a great performance this was in the toughest of circumstances and hopefully they will now really get behind us as they always do, because if we can do well in our home matches then we have got a great chance of going further in the competition.”

Stoke Shock Dynamo with Draw in Kiev.

Cameron Jerome’s first ever goal for Stoke was almost enough to steal an away win in Kiev in their first Europa League group game, but a late strike in injury time left the Potters with just a point on their travels.

Jerome’s strike came just before the hour mark broke the deadlock against the run of play, the former Birmingham City striker was able to control Shotton’s low cross before firing into the roof of the Kiev net. 

But deep into stoppage time the Ukrainians equalized through Ognjen Vukojevic, breaking Potters hearts that had, until then, been dreaming of a impressive win in the Ukrainian capital.

Tony Pulis made eight changes to the side that beat Liverpool last Saturday. Among the changes were starting debuts for Wilson Palacios, who joined Glenn Whelan and co in the Stoke midfield, while Jerome partnered Kenwyne Jones up front. 

Despite the freshness of the Stoke side it was Kiev who had the upper hand in the opening quarter of the game. Andriy Shevchenko and Andriy Yarmolenko caused problems for the Potters at the back, while the Ukrainians’ defensive lines held firm in the center and middle of the park. 

Kiev left-back Goran Popov almost crashed in a drive from distance after 20 minutes but Thomas Sorensen was able to direct the ball away from goal before Yarmolenko squandered the easy rebound, keeping the Potters on level terms. 

Stoke responded after the chance and began to play with more structure in defence forcing Kiev to back-up, restricting them to long range efforts clearing Dynamo from the edge of the Stoke penalty box.

Kiev maintained possession and created chances, the best of which fell to Artem Milevsky but his strike, after Danilo Silva’s low cross, was straight at Sorensen and again failed to really challenge the Potters’ keeper.

Once they’d gone behind Kiev found a wall of Potters defenders every time they came forward and the home side found it difficult to create chances inside 25 yards. 

Substitute Olexander Aliyev made an impact coming on for Milos Ninkovic, first forcing full stretch save from Sorensen with a long range effort, and then striking the cross bar form 20 yards out to the relief of the Stoke defence.

Andriy Shevchenko wasted an opportunity when he chose to pass rather then test Stoke’s keeper as he bore down on goal but signs that Kiev would break down the Stoke defenses were beginning to show.

Late in stoppage time Ognjen Vukojevic popped up, latching onto Yarmolenko’s low cross to give Dynamo a deserved equalizer. 

Stoke weathered a last storm from Kiev as they went in search of a winner, but a late Aliyev freekick failed to break the wall, as the Potters went home with a point from Eastern Europe.

Berra Ready To Bounce Back This Weekend

“We need to put them under pressure and not let them settle and take our chances when we can.”

That’s the simple formula that Chirstophe Berra believes will bring his high flying Wolves the result they need this Saturday when they welcome QPR to the Molineux.

“We won’t take anything for granted, this is a tough game.”

QPR represent a serious threat to Wolves’ impressive start to the season and sit just three points behind the McCarthy’s boys holding 11^th place in the Premiership. 

With four points from their opening four games and a whole host of new faces at the club from the August transfer window, including Shawn Wright-Phillips Luke Young and Anton Ferdinand, Neil Warnock’s side will be no pushover Saturday afternoon.

“We’re at home and it’s a game we want to get a positive result from” added Berra. 

Wolves season began with two wins from their opening two games but a draw at Aston Villa and a loss last week at home to Tottenham have slightly halted the Midlander’s momentum. Berra however doesn’t see the side’s positive attitude to their early season performances dwindling.

“We are disappointed to lose any game but we’ve done well against Spurs in the past and wanted to keep that going,

“Our performance was decent but they [Tottenham] had that added quality to cut us open,

“The defeat will drive us on through for the next game and we want to put things right against QPR.”

Kick-off at the Molineux is 15:00pm this Saturday.