Stoke City player ratings vs Preston as Lewis Baker shows cool head in sea of nerves
Reaction from Deepdale as Stoke City draw 1-1 with Preston North End
Lewis Baker kept his cool from the penalty spot to deservedly haul Stoke City back to gain what could prove a vital point at Preston North End.
Stoke could barely believe they were trailing in a match they had largely dominated but Kaine Kesler-Hayden’s deflected first half shot, from Preston’s first attack, had given the hosts a lead to cling onto for as long as possible.
Baker had gone close twice in the first half and Bae Junho had a brilliant chance to equalise in the second before Liam Lindsay was penalised for having his hands on Ali Al-Hamadi and Stoke got the chance to level from 12 yards.
It was a pressure penalty at such a time in the game, at such a time in the season, in such a congested bottom half of the Championship table, but Baker is the one Stoke player from the last seven or eight years you want in that scenario and he delivered.
Stoke started brightly and Million Manhoef was sent behind the Preston defence towards a one-on-one with Dai Cornell but he was struggling to get the ball under control quickly enough in a strong wind and he was cut out by Jordan Storey when it initially looked like a golden chance.
But Preston took the lead with their first attack and pretty much first venture into the Stoke half when they swept the ball from a throw on the left to get into the area down their right, then helped by a lucky bounce in the box as Sam Greenwood gave it to Kesler-Hayden to poke home.
Manhoef was sent into another one-on-one after excellent control of a long ball from Viktor Johansson before a diabolical pull-back from referee Farai Hallam for a foul on Johansson by Milutin Osmajic. The official had made such a theatrical point of waiting to see if Stoke had an advantage and players and supporters struggled to stomach his decision.
