Report | Stoke City 0-0 Argyle
A great former Argyle manager used to often to say, ‘every point is a prisoner’. On a day like this, you know what he meant.
If Stoke City put a DVD of this game in their club shop (they won’t) then no amount of January sales marketing activity is going to shift any units. Suffice to say: not a classic.
No matter, though. For Argyle, it was a rare away point to add to the tally, and an even rarer clean sheet – just the second of the season.
While technical quality was not to the fore, what was on show was heart, organisation and kiln-fired spirit from Argyle, who restricted Stoke – a side who have recently drawn with Burnley and beaten Sunderland – to precious few chances on a cold lunchtime in the Potteries.
Argyle made one enforced change for the game, with Michael Obafemi taking the spot of Ryan Hardie, whose shoulder injury sustained in the 2-2 draw against Bristol City three days prior had not recovered sufficiently.
After New Year’s Day’s point against the Robins, Argyle now met another Robins – Mark, of that ilk, taking charge of Stoke for the first time, having recently been appointed Potters boss.
As you may expect with a new head coach, Stoke were the team on the front foot from the off, their home crowd buoyed by their team’s energetic start to the game.
For their early pressure, Stoke did not threaten directly in the opening quarter of the game. When they did look likely to get into a good position, Argyle were often architects of their own near-downfall, losing the ball in key areas or simply not being on the same wavelength of a team-mate.
It became apparent that the flow of the game could become a bit cat-and-mouse, with Argyle’s best hopes being from counter-attacking football. One particular swift, neat move saw several Greens involved in getting the ball to Darko Gyabi, who skipped past a couple of challenges before taking a shot from outside the box. It was on target, but Viktor Johansson saved comfortably.
Stoke responded with a move down the right which saw Bae Jun-ho release Lewis Koumas with a lovely pass in behind. Koumas put across an inviting ball, too, but somehow it evaded all legs in the area.
Argyle were definitely coming more into the game, although any cutting edge was still sheathed. From one encouraging move on the right, Gyabi got to the bye-line and fed Morgan Whittaker. With not much wriggle room, Whittaker teed up Brendan Galloway, but his effort from 20 yards was not close.
Similar was occurring at the other end. Former Argyle Academy player Sam Gallagher had a ball fall to him just outside the area, but his shot sailed into the Stoke City faithful occupying the space where the away end used to be.
Now tucked into the corner of the stand, the 1,407 Argyle fans would have been the happier of the sets of supporters at half-time. This was far from a classic, but Argyle had thus far prevented Stoke from breaking through.
That nearly changed earlier in the second half. Tatsuki Seko drifted, unchecked, into a dangerous inside-left position, and cut back to Junior Tchamadeu, who brought a smart save out of Conor Hazard.
For Argyle fans, the second half was bringing a feel of cognitive dissonance. This was not a good game by any stretch. Chances were almost non-existent, and neither side could muster much in the way of fluent play.
This, however, was probably better news for the team with two points on the road all season, as opposed to the team trying to capitalise on a new manager in situ and a recent uptick in form.
That said, as the 70-minute mark appeared, so did some chances from Stoke. Koumas was becoming increasingly influential on the City right, and one incursion got him to the line, where he cut back to Wouter Burger, recently on as a substitute. Burger got into the area and pirouetted, but was eventually halted by a combination of Galloway and Julio Pleguezuelo, at full stretch.
Then came the best Stoke chance so far, with Koumas again involved, crossing to Potters leading goalscorer Tom Cannon, who would probably have expected to convert, but instead dragged his effort wide.
The longer the game clock eroded, the more home players and fans demonstrated their frustrations, but aside from the odd foray forward, Stoke offered little, their vexation negating their intent.
Argyle saw the game out and – go on, let’s say it – are unbeaten in 2025.
Argyle: 21 Conor Hazard, 2 Bali Mumba, 5 Julio Pleguezuelo, 6 Kornel Szucs, 14 Michael Obafemi (35 Freddie Issaka, 64), 10 Morgan Whittaker, 18 Darko Gyabi (27 Adam Forshaw, 70), 20 Adam Randell (capt), 22 Brendan Galloway, 28 Rami Al Hajj (4 Jordan Houghton, 79), 29 Matty Sorinola (3 Nathanael Ogbeta, 79). Substitutes: 31 Daniel Grimshaw (gk), 7 Ibrahim Cissoko, 34 Caleb Roberts, 39 Tegan Finn, 44 Victor Palsson.
Booked: Hazard 41, Al Hajj 59
Stoke City: 1 Viktor Johansson, 2 Lynden Gooch, 9 Tom Cannon, 10 Bae Jun-Ho, 11 Lewis Koumas, 12 Tatsuki Seko, 16 Ben Wilmot, 20 Sam Gallagher (6 Wouter Burger, 49), 22 Junior Tchamadeu, 24 Andy Moran, 26 Ashley Phillips. Substitutes: 13 Jack Bonham (gk), 3 Enda Stevens, 5 Michael Rose, 14 Niall Ennis, 18 Bosun Lawal, 23 Ben Gibson, 30 Sol Sidibe, 37 Esre Tezgel.
Booked: Gooch 27
Referee: Dean Whitstone
Attendance: 26,169 (1,407 away)
