Kenwyne Jones headed home as Stoke came from behind to earn a draw with West Ham at the Britannia.
Jones equalises Parker opener in hard-fought battle at Britannia
Kenwyne Jones headed home as Stoke came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw with West Ham at the Britannia Stadium.
Scott Parker had put the Hammers ahead on 32 minutes with a close-range tap-in after Rory Delap's goal-line clearance hit Ryan Shawcross and fell into his path.
But Stoke upped the tempo in the second period and Jones equalised three minutes after the restart with a close-range header from Jermaine Pennant's fine cross.
Jones and substitute Ricardo Fuller then hit the woodwork but the Hammers - whose manager Avram Grant was observing Yom Kippur and not present at the game - held firm for their first point of the campaign.
The two teams had lost seven out of eight Premier League games between them before the start of play and it was a scrappy opening.
Delap sent a long throw into the box which Abdoulaye Faye could not connect with properly and at the other end Carlton Cole struck an effort well wide of Thomas Sorensen's goal.
Victor Obinna had a little more conviction moments later when he fired in a volley, but it took a deflection and Sorensen was able to catch comfortably.
Robert Green, who had spilled a Didier Drogba free-kick in the build-up to a goal in the Hammers' previous match against Chelsea, almost repeated the error when he failed to deal with Pennant's delivery into the box, but his blushes were spared as Robert Huth hit the loose ball against the post.
First booking
Valon Behrami then picked up the game's first booking on 21 minutes to give away another free-kick in a similar area which Pennant used to tee up Jones, but the Trinidadian sliced his shot over the bar.
Having seen Stoke fail to make the most of their set-pieces, West Ham then took the lead via a free-kick of their own.
Obinna crossed the ball from near the right byline into the box and there was a scramble before Delap's clearance off the line hit Shawcross and fell into the path of Parker to prod over the line.
Looking energised, the visitors almost doubled their lead within two minutes as Frederic Piquionne unleashed a drive from the edge of the area which cracked against the bar.
Stoke attempted to regroup and Jones got his head to another Delap throw-in but sent it over.
Tony Pulis' half-time team-talk had inspired the Potters to come from behind and win against Aston Villa last time and it seemed as if the manager's words at the interval had made an impact again as the hosts pulled level within three minutes of the restart.
Jon Walters released Pennant down the right channel and the former Arsenal and Liverpool winger played in a delightful cross which Jones headed in at the far post, out-muscling Manuel Da Costa to head home.
Former Hammer Matthew Etherington had a chance to put Stoke ahead soon after having been fed by Jones, but saw his effort deflect behind for a corner.
Impetus
Pennant was providing plenty of impetus and delivered another great ball into the danger zone which Walters was just unable to meet.
Green then gave a reminder of his quality by pulling off a fantastic save, tipping Jones' strike against the post after the striker had out-muscled Matthew Upson.
Pulis brought on Fuller for Walters with 20 minutes remaining and Pennant lofted another handy ball into the box for Jones, who was flagged offside.
West Ham had barely mustered anything in an attacking sense since half-time, but suddenly called Sorensen into action, the Danish goalkeeper diving at full stretch to palm Obinna's shot around the post.
From the resulting corner, Mark Noble sent in a cross which Da Costa headed goalwards from six yards, but again Sorensen kept West Ham at bay, getting down low to his left with a superb save.
Jones was then substituted, with Eidur Gudjohnsen receiving a fantastic reception from the Stoke fans as he came on for his debut.
With 10 minutes to go Fuller came close to finding a winner with a header from Delap's throw which bounced into the turf and up off the bar.
Green then pushed a curling strike from Etherington over as West Ham hung on to secure a precious point.
| Stoke City |
Team Statistics |
West Ham United |
| 1 |
Goals |
1 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
6 |
| 5 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 5 |
Blocked Shots |
1 |
| 6 |
Corners |
3 |
| 14 |
Fouls |
12 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 3 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 67.3 |
Passing Success |
73 |
| 14 |
Tackles |
23 |
| 78.6 |
Tackles Success |
82.6 |
| 41.2 |
Possession |
58.8 |
| 58.8 |
Territorial Advantage |
41.2 |
|
