Norwich City 1-1 Stoke City
- Published
Norwich fought back from an early deficit to claim a hard-earned point at home to Stoke.
Mame Biram Diouf headed in debutant Xherdan Shaqiri's free-kick in the 13th minute to put Stoke in the lead.
But Canaries defender Russell Martin shot through the legs of Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland to level the scores before half-time.
Brilliant saves from Butland after the break thwarted Graham Dorrans, Nathan Redmond and Cameron Jerome.
Substitute Bradley Johnson wasted a fine chance to win it for the hosts in stoppage time, seconds after Joselu had blazed over from close range for Stoke, leaving Norwich still seeking a first home win in this season's Premier League.
The visitors, inspired by £12m record signing Shaqiri, were much the better side in the first half but Norwich's second half domination was yielded nothing mainly through Butland's excellence.
How did Shaqiri settle?
The final game of a suspension imposed while still with Inter Milan meant that Stoke fans had to be patient before seeing their most expensive player in action.
But it was worth the wait, and Shaqiri's first meaningful action in the Premier League was to provide a pinpoint free-kick that the stooping Diouf converted.
Accurate passing and quick feet were also on display for much of the first half, but a combination of close attention from Norwich and a lack of recent action may have contributed to a quiet second 45 minutes.
Butland for England?
Butland assumed the mantle of Stoke's first-choice keeper following Asmir Begovic's exit to Chelsea in the summer, and his excellent display at Carrow Road led England Under-21 team-mate Redmond to call for his inclusion in the England squad.
On this evidence the 22-year-old should firm up a place in Roy Hodgson's plans as understudy to Joe Hart.
He reacted impressively to pull off fine saves within seconds of each other, stopping Dorrans and Jerome towards the end of the game.
Man of the match
The stats you need to know
Brady created more goalscoring chances than any other Premier League player today (six).
Redmond has had a hand in 10 goals in his last eight league games - five goals, five assists.
Since the start of last season no player has netted more headed goals than Diouf with five, level with four other players.
Stoke have collected just four points from 21 available in their last seven PL away games (D4 L3).
'Butland outstanding for Stoke'
BBC Sport's Kevin Kilbane on Final Score: "We saw an outstanding performance from Jack Butland today. He made some incredible saves - and the one when he denied Cameron Jerome, with the ball already behind him, was brilliant. He was the man of the match for me - he's got Stoke the point today."
Manager reaction
Norwich City's Alex Neil: "It's disappointing not to win. We had all the chances in the game but I can't complain with how we played.
"We were great and Jack Butland made some fantastic saves. There is no question that we deserve to be at this level."
Stoke boss Mark Hughes: "I am happy. We had a decent amount of play in the first half but didn't create a great deal today, the conditions took the edge off our game.
"In the end we are grateful for a number of saves from Jack Butland who was outstanding today. At the moment Jack has a broken finger as well so that shows the strength of character he has.
"Xherdan Shaqiri will get better the longer he is with us but you can see that he will be a key player for us. He hasn't played much but the 90 minutes today will do him the world of good."
Social media reaction
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