Ryan Shawcross scored a late equaliser as Stoke City earned a 1-1 draw against Hull City in their Premier League match.
The Tigers were reduced to 10 men early on when James Chester was shown a straight red card, but they took the lead in the 43rd minute as Nikica Jelavic poked in from close range.
Stoke dominated possession, but had to wait until the 83rd minute to draw level when Shawcross turned the ball into the net, after Phil Bardsley's shot had come back off the post.
Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at the events that unfolded at the KC Stadium.
Match Statistics:
Hull City:
Shots 9
On Target 2
Possession 43%
Corners 4
Fouls 10
Stoke City:
Shots 19
On Target 3
Possession 57%
Corners 5
Fouls 10
Was the result fair?
Having put in so much effort after going down to 10 men so early in the match, Hull can consider themselves unfortunate not to have picked up all three points. They had looked the better side until Chester's dismissal and showed great spirit to take the lead at the end of the first half. Stoke bossed the possession given their numerical advantage, but a real lack of cutting edge in the final third ruined any chance they had of a win today.
Hull City's performance
Steve Bruce will be extremely proud of the effort that his players put in today. They coped with having a man sent off extremely well and did not just sit back and play for a point. Jelavic's goal just before half time was no less than they deserved and they tried to add to that lead whenever they got the chance to break in the second half. Their manager will have been disappointed at the manner of the goal that they conceded towards the end, but they have managed to retain their unbeaten start to the Premier League season.
Stoke City's performance
Stoke fans will surely be upset at how their team coped with playing against 10 men for 76 minutes of the match. They saw plenty of the ball, but only managed to get three shots on target, with Hull goalkeeper Allan McGregor largely untroubled. Despite the summer acquisitions of Mame Biram Diouf and Bojan Krkic, Mark Hughes may be thinking about bringing in a proven goalscorer at this level, with their one strike this season coming from a centre-back.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Ahmed Elmohamady: The Hull defence all deserve a huge amount of credit for their performances today, but Ahmed Elmohamady had a great afternoon. He constantly helped to relieve the pressure that his teammates were coming under, with a string of powerful runs down the right wing. He kept going until the final minute and even had a chance deep into stoppage time, which he fired over the bar.
Biggest gaffe
While it was Chester who was sent off for Hull, the blame can largely be placed on Jake Livermore, whose poor back pass meant that the defender was forced to bring down Glenn Whelan. It was a moment that completely changed the game, after such a bright start for the home side.
Referee's performance
It proved to be a busy afternoon for Jonathan Moss, who had a big call to make at such an early stage of the game. However, the official got his decision to send Chester off correct, with Whelan running clean through on goal. He handed out four more cards, which were all deserved yellows for clumsy late challenges, rather than anything malicious. As for Stoke's goal, there was a moment of confusion as to whether the ball had gone in, but goal-line technology quickly revealed that it had.
What next?
Hull City: The Tigers face Lokeren in the second-leg of their Europa League playoff on Thursday, before travelling to Aston Villa in the Premier League next Sunday.
Stoke City: Stoke will host Portsmouth in the second round of the League Cup this Wednesday ahead of a trip to Premier League champions Manchester City on Saturday.
Alex Meyers
