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Stoke City 0-0 Preston North End: Freddie Woodman sees red late on in goalless draw

Admin 2 hours ago

2 1 minute read

Stoke extended their unbeaten run to five in the Sky Bet Championship with a 0-0 draw against Preston.

The highlight of the match came in the closing stages when North End keeper Freddie Woodman was sent off for deliberately handling the ball outside the penalty area following a short back pass.

Neither side could break the other down, with the game littered with corners everywhere.

After a cagey opening of fifteen minutes, the first two chances of the match fell in the direction of home team Stoke.

Something we have come to expect on a cold Tuesday evening in Stoke over the years is a barrage of set pieces wreaking havoc on the visiting defense, and this match was no different.

Jun-ho Bae's corner was flicked by the retreating Woodman, who got just enough on the ball to keep it from going over his head into the bottom corner. However, the danger was not there, as Wouter Burger's rebound was pushed against a post and away from the danger.

Two minutes later it was Burger again with a great chance from a new corner. Another taker in the form of Million Manhoef found the Dutch midfielder's head – and with Woodman again in no man's land – he was unable to direct his effort on target.

The Lilywhites should have opened the scoring just after the half-hour mark when a ball from the right from Sam Greenwood found Milutin Osmajic at the far post, but the Montenegrin striker's tame effort was easily claimed by Viktor Johansson.

Paul Heckingbottom's side were more aggressive at the start of the second half and almost took the lead five minutes after the restart.

During a training ground corner, Greenwood sprayed a beautiful ball to the edge of the penalty area for the waiting Ben Whiteman – however his strike was blocked inside the six-yard box by Tatsuki Seko.

Then Whiteman's lightning right-footed effort around a post was tipped over by Johansson, who moved smartly to the right.

The final and only flashpoint of the match came in the closing seconds when a moment of madness from Woodman in the Preston goal saw him turn the ball and collect a back pass outside his penalty area, receiving his marching orders.