Newcastle United returned to a nervous St James' Park banish the memory of last weekend's derby humbling at the hands of Sunderland. The Magpies huffed and puffed but failed to find a way past an inspired Jack Butland on a very frustrating afternoon for Steve McClaren's team. For the second week in a row they failed to take their chances. The home side all the early openings with Aleksandar Mitrovic testing Jack Butland and his Stoke City defence. Chancel Mbemba also could have arguably done better from a set piece header after seven minutes. Although, Stoke could count themselves slightly unlucky not to have a penalty after Paul Dummett seemed to clip the heels of Bojan with the Spaniard working his way into the Magpies' box. Newcastle failed to test the England keeper enough though as Moussa Sissoko and Vurnon Anita failed provide that final ball after finding themselves in fantastic positions. This allowed The Potters to get a foothold in the game, they came dangerously close to taking the lead but Jonathan Walters couldn't quite reach a stunning Charlie Adam cross. Quite literally nothing happened for a good while as both teams huffed and puffed in possession until a great cross from Sissoko on the left met the head of Mitrovic, United's number 45 hit the post before the ball bounced across the line with Butland doing well to scramble it clear. Georginio Wijnaldum was then flagged for offside during the follow-up. Ayoze Perez then jinked his way past two Stoke players and was hauled to the ground in what looked a stone-wall penalty, referee Roger East, however, gave nothing. You would have thought the referee - who blocked a Newcastle counter attack chance with Perez in the clear - would give anything to allow the game to gain some sort of spark. The first half petered out as 48,000 people inside the stadium fell into a slumber. The second period started with sustained pressure from the away side, although it was Newcastle who worked the first real opening with Perez bending one just wide from all of 25 yards. Gini Wijnaldum them won himself a free kick on the edge of the area which Butland pushed comfortably over the bar. Stoke then created the best chance of the afternoon as a deep cross landed on the head of Walters, but the Irishman couldn't find a way past his international colleague Rob Elliot who spread himself well to make the save. United went up the other end with Mitrovic playing Sissoko in who was bearing down on Butland's goal, but once again the keeper came out on top saving with his feet. Mbemba came close with another header from the resulting corner. Ayoze Perez then stung the hands of Butland once again with a fierce drive from range. We then saw the worst of Mitrovic as he attempted to wind up the Stoke back line, only to find himself in the book after a comical tumble to the turf. However, the big Serb continued to cause havoc in the Stoke defence, seeing his effort blocked with the goal gaping - a passage of play that was wrongly ruled offside. Stoke continued to show some threat, with Anita making a fantastic sliding block to deny a marauding Glen Johnson. Captain Coloccini would do the same on Arnautovic. As boring as the game was, Jack Butland was on top form as he kept a strong Sissoko drive from heading into the top corner. The England stopper then denied a flying Jamaal Lascelles header. You just new nothing was going in for Newcastle then. A bore draw...
