West Bromwich Albion 1-1 Stoke City: Managerless Potters hold on for point at West Brom
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West Brom's Brandon Thomas-Asante (left) equalised after Lynden Gooch's (right) fortuitous Stoke opener
Managerless Stoke earned a hard-fought point at West Brom but their winless run now stretches to eight Championship matches.
Lynden Gooch put the Potters ahead in fortuitous fashion in the 12th minute when his cross sailed over Baggies goalkeeper Alex Palmer into the far corner of the net.
The hosts were level 10 minutes before half-time when Brandon Thomas-Asante scored his sixth league goal of the season with a well-controlled volley through a crowded penalty area.
Carlos Corberan's side pushed for a winner but Jack Bonham made a point-blank save from Thomas-Asante and Kyle Bartley had a header ruled out for offside.
It was the first game in the last 10 league meetings between West Brom and Stoke City to end in a draw.
The Baggies climbed a place to fifth, above Hull City on goal difference but six points behind Southampton, while Stoke remain 19th, three points clear of the relegation zone.
Albion's Jeremy Sarmiento had fired an early volley over the bar from Grady Diangana's cross before the home fans at The Hawthorns were stunned by Gooch's opener.
Stoke took a quick free-kick in the middle of the pitch, with Bae Jun-Ho finding Gooch on the right and his cross gave Palmer no chance as it looped in.
The Potters were doing a good job of frustrating the home side and broke on the counter again soon after the goal but Ryan Mmaee had his shot blocked.
Brighton loanee Sarmiento looked lively for the hosts and almost scored on 27 minutes when his powerfully-struck shot was kept out by a terrific fingertip save from Stoke goalkeeper Bonham.
Albion levelled in the 35th minute after great work from Darnell Furlong, who took the ball away from Stoke defender Michael Rose as he tried to shepherd it out of play.
Furlong's cross found Okay Yokuslu whose shot was blocked, but the rebound dropped to Thomas-Asante who fired past Bonham.
Paul Gallagher has overseen consecutive 1-1 draws in his two games as Stoke caretaker manager
Stoke defender Rose saved his team twice in quick succession as the hosts pushed for a second, first heading a dangerous curling shot from Jed Wallace over his own bar on 66 minutes and then making a well-timed challenge as Baggies sub Tom Fellows went through on goal.
The Potters rarely threatened a winner of their own but the best of their second-half chances both fell to Josh Laurent who had a shot deflected narrowly wide by Alex Mowatt and then fired over when well-placed after good work from Ki-Jana Hoever.
Albion laid siege to the Stoke goal in the closing stages and had a string of late chances to take the points, with Thomas-Asante having a shot saved at point-blank range by Bonham's knee, before Bartley's header was chalked off and the keeper palmed over a fierce shot by Pipa.
Stoke caretaker manager Paul Gallagher has overseen back-to-back 1-1 draws in his two games in charge since Alex Neil was sacked following a four-match losing streak.
What's next?
Both sides are next in action on 23 December in the final round of Championship fixtures before Christmas.
West Brom head north to face Michael Carrick's 13th-placed Middlesbrough, while Stoke host a fellow out-of-form team in Millwall, who are a point and one place below them.
West Brom boss Carlos Corberan told BBC WM 95.6:
"In general, I think only one of the two teams deserved to win today, which was West Bromwich Albion, because I think we did more than them. But when you don't achieve what you want to achieve it means that there were things that that we did not do well enough.
"The goal we conceded was a surprise because I think it was a cross but unfortunately the ball went into the net. There were moments when we needed to attack better and we couldn't create enough problems for the opponent. In the second half we started to put them under more stress but when we did produce we found the goalkeeper.
"The only thing you can regret after games is to feel that you didn't put all your efforts on the pitch. When you do, you don't have regrets.
"There are things we need to do better and fix but the most important thing is to finish the game feeling that we have tried our best and today we tried but it wasn't enough so we will see if we can do better to win football games."
Stoke interim manager Paul Gallagher told BBC Radio Stoke:
"I'm pleased with how we approached the game, the work ethic was excellent.
"I thought we showed real quality at times. I told the players to believe in themselves and go and play with confidence. The most pleasing thing was that we looked like a team.
"Coming here is always a difficult game, you have to stand up and face the challenge. They have a good manager and are really well-organised.
"Jack [Bonham] made some good saves for us but I thought we were really solid. It's a good point on the road and we move on."