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Attendance: 20,418
Stoke logo
Championship | Gameweek 32
Feb 12, 2020 at 8pm UK
 
Preston North End logo

0-2

FT(HT: 0-0)
Browne (58'), Barkhuizen (75')

Preston North End close in on automatic promotion places with win at Stoke City

Preston North End close in on automatic promotion places with win at Stoke City
© Reuters
Alex Neil's first visit to the Bet365 Stadium since spurning Stoke's advances earlier in the season proved to be a positive one.

Alan Browne and Tom Barkhuizen were on target as promotion-chasing Preston secured a 2-0 Sky Bet Championship win at Stoke.

Preston boss Alex Neil's first visit to the Bet365 Stadium since spurning Stoke's advances earlier in the season proved to be a positive one as his side closed the gap on the automatic places to three points.

Stoke have improved under Michael O'Neill's guidance since their public pursuit of former Norwich boss Neil but will need to be more clinical going forward in order to remain clear of the relegation places.

Preston dominated possession in the opening stages but neither side threatened to break the deadlock until the 25th minute, when James McClean laid the ball off for Sam Clucas, whose low effort from 20 yards was cleared off the line by Lilywhites defender Ben Davies.

Two minutes later Tyrese Campbell cut in from the right and curled an effort towards the top corner, only for Preston goalkeeper Declan Rudd to deny him with an outstanding full-stretch save.

A minute later Campbell and Nick Powell were crowded out from Tommy Smith's low cross and Rudd clawed away a Danny Batth header from Smith's free-kick after 34 minutes as the hosts finished the first half strongly.

Stoke remained dominant after the interval and Campbell should have opened the scoring after 56 minutes. Clucas' free-kick was headed down by Batth and Campbell's shot on the turn from 12 yards flashed inches wide of the post.

Instead Preston went ahead two minutes later with their first shot on target. Johnson's corner ricocheted off Davies and Browne reacted fastest to poke home from inside the six-yard box.

Moments later Darnell Fisher's foul on Nick Powell sparked a mass brawl, with McClean and Ben Pearson booked for their roles in the chaos.

Substitute Sam Vokes headed straight at Rudd as the hosts pressed for an equaliser, while at the other end Barkhuizen was denied by Jack Butland.

But Barkhuizen doubled Preston's lead 15 minutes from time, with Davies' aerial presence again causing problems as he nodded Paul Gallagher's cross down for the former Morecambe forward to stroke home.

Stoke huffed and puffed in the closing stages but were unable to find a way through a well-drilled North End defence.

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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd1610422191232
2Sunderland1594225111431
3Burnley168621961330
4Leeds UnitedLeeds158522491529
5Middlesbrough1683529191027
6West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom166821811726
7Watford168262524126
8Millwall156541813523
9Blackburn RoversBlackburn156451917222
10Bristol City165742020022
11Derby CountyDerby165562020020
12Stoke CityStoke165561920-120
13Norwich CityNorwich164752524119
14Swansea CitySwansea155461110119
15Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds165471826-819
16Luton TownLuton165381826-818
17Coventry CityCoventry164572223-117
18Oxford UnitedOxford Utd164571924-517
19Plymouth ArgylePlymouth164571728-1117
20Preston North EndPreston163761624-816
21Cardiff CityCardiff164481524-916
22Hull City163671621-515
23Portsmouth152671628-1212
24Queens Park RangersQPR161871326-1311


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