MARK HUGHES said the key to Asmir Begovic’s departure from Stoke City was the certainty that in England international Jack Butland, Stoke had a ready-made, replacement. Yesterday proved Hughes’s point as Butland made a string of athletic second-half saves that gave the visitors a point. Admirably, he performed his heroics after breaking his left index finger at Friday’s training.
“He had to be honest with me when he said he could play,” noted Hughes.
“Bultand was excellent,” admitted Alex Neil, Norwich’s manager. “But we should have taken at least one of those chances.”
Norwich were superior in every way, although come May, they may regret their prodigal finishing. If the arrival of Xherdan Shaqiri, prised for a record fee of £12m from Inter Milan is perhaps the time that Stoke move to another level, they were, as Hughes said, “short of spark”.
With his theoretical marker and the heat-sapping proceedings reducing the game to shuffle pace at times, Shaqiri found himself with time to contemplate his new world on Stoke’s right. There was a glimpse of game-changing magic: when Robbie Brady handballed in the 11th minute, the Swiss curled a magnificent free kick towards the back post and Mame Biram Diouf evaded his marker Alex Tettey to plant a header past John Ruddy.
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Briefly Norwich could glimpse their season as a long haul. Yet, they have a sense of mission that may carry them over the finish line still in the top flight.
Butland made a terrific flying save from Russell Martin’s volley, but Stoke hesitated as they tried to clear. Tettey headed the ball forward, Nathan Redmond hooked it on and centre half Martin fired home first time.
After the break, Norwich upped the ante, but spurned three chances in as many minutes. First, Cameron Jerome rolled the ball around Butland’s right-hand post when put through alone. Then, unmarked six yards out, Wes Hoolahan headed Brady’s perfect centre wide and finally Butland flung himself to his left to tip aside Graham Dorrans’s goalbound daisycutter.
Stoke had trouble escaping their own half and Norwich continued to craft chances. Five minutes from the end Butland tipped aside a Dorrans screamer before turning over Jerome’s overhead kick from the resulting corner. This was Butland’s day.
Star man: Jack Butland (Stoke)
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Norwich City: Ruddy 6, Whittaker 6, Martin 6, Bassong 5, Brady 5, Dorrans 7, Tettey 6, Redmond 7, Hoolahan 6 (Johnson 77min, 6), Howson 6 (O’Neil 86min, 5), Jerome 5
Stoke City: Butland 9, Johnson 5, Cameron 6, Muniesa 6, Pieters 5, Shaqiri 6, Van Ginkel 5 (Adam 79min, 5), Whelan 6, Afellay 6 (Ireland 57min, 6), Armautovic 5 (Joselu 57min, 5), Diouf 6