Stoke City and Wigan Athletic have drawn six of their last eight meetings, so perhaps it comes as no surprise as the two sides played out a tie at the Britannia Stadium. But the 2-2 draw wasn't short of drama -- the visitors had to come back from a 2-0 deficit following goals from Ryan Shawcross and Peter Crouch -- or fun.
Stoke City vs. Wigan Athletic: Final score 2-2 after entertaining match
The match began in less-than savoury fashion when Robert Huth and Franco di Santo suffered a clash of heads in the opening three minutes. The German centre back got the worst of it and spent several minutes being treated on the pitch, eventually emerging with a bandaged head and looking like he'd gone three rounds with a polar bear.
But despite the mauling that their centre back had received, the Potters pushed onwards and were rewarded with the opening goal. Wigan’s marking was nowhere to be found on a Charlie Adam set piece, and the ball eventually fell to Stoke captain Ryan Shawcross, who scrambled past Ali Al-Habsi to make it 1-0.
That score would make it all the way to the break, but the start of the second half things went a little bit crazy. The visitors were on the attack but lost the ball after Geoff Cameron stamped on Roger Espinoza without [] noticing, and that sparked a counterattack which Charlie Adam ended with a vicious shot that Al-Habsi couldn't hold. The rebound was seized upon by Peter Crouch, who slid home to make it 2-0.
But the Latics struck back immediately. Espinoza played a delicious pass in to James McArthur, and the midfielder produced a superb finish with the outside of his right boot to curl the ball over Asmir Begovic and bring the score back to 2-1. And Wigan's comeback was complete in the 61st minute when di Santo latched onto McArthur's knockdown and unleashed a scissor-volley for the equaliser.
Despite both sides pushing for the winner, neither would be able to break the deadlock, and the match would finish in a 2-2 draw.
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