Barnsley’s wait for a first Championship victory of 2020-2021 continues following a second successive 2-2 draw, the first time they have had back-back 2-2 draws since February 2014 (v Ipswich then Doncaster)
This is the Reds sixth 2-2 draw since returning to the Championship in 2019, four of which have come under the stewardship of Adam Murray.
Murray has now taken charge of seven Barnsley matches, over two spells and is still to taste victory (D5 L2)
This result continued Barnsley’s longest winless start (D3 L3) since 2009-2010 (D1 L5)
Prior to Saturday Barnsley had won 13 successive matches (all comps) in which they had opened the scoring but have now failed to win two games in a row when scoring first for the first time since December 2019 (2-3 v Cardiff, 1-1 v Reading)
This is the first time they have drawn back to back games when opening the scoring since February 2014 (also back to back 2-2s, v Ipswich and Doncaster)
This is the first time Barnsley have scored more than once at Stoke in a league match since October 1993 when they lost 5-4. They have travelled there six times in between and had scored only once!
Stoke meanwhile have netted 13 times in their last four meetings with the Reds, home and away combined.
There has been at least four goals scored in a Barnsley/Stoke meeting in four successive meetings - a total of 20 goals.
Barnsley have drawn each of the past two matches in which their opponents have had a man sent off.
It is the second red card in four meetings with Stoke after Stephen Foster was sent off in a 3-3 Oakwell draw on Boxing Day 2007.
Nathan Collins red card was the only card shown, the first time this has occurred since November 2013 (Aaron Cresswell for Ipswich)
Tyrese Campbell grabbed Stoke’s first equaliser, meaning he has netted three times in his last two games against Barnsley.
Barnsley have conceded at least two goals in three successive league games for the first time since November 2019 with two of the opponents being Bristol City and Stoke on both occasions. (two v Bristol City, four v Stoke, three v Blackburn
Barnsley scored two first half goals in a league game for the first time since December 2019 (5-3 v QPR)
Barnsley have held a half-time lead in successive Championship games for the first time since December 2019 (v QPR and Millwall)
Barnsley Team:
1. Jack Walton
2. Jordan Williams
30. Michal Helik
6. Mads Andersen
7. Callum Brittain
21. Ronal Palmer
27. Alex Mowatt
22. Clarke Oduor
23. Elliot Simoes
28. Dominik Frieser
9. Cauley Woodrow
Substitutes:
8. Herbie Kane (for Palmer 49)
16. Luke Thomas (for Simoes 77)
19. Patrick Schmidt (for Brittain 84)
Unused Substitutes:
48. Corey Addai, 24. Aapo Halme, 32. Matty James, 11. Conor Chaplin.
Stoke Team:
16. Adam Davies
12. James Chester
36. Harry Souttar
37. Nathan Collins
13. John Mikel Obi
34. Jordan Thompson
14. Tommy Smith
35. Josh Tymon
26. Tyrese Campbell
25. Nick Powell
21. Steven Fletcher
Substitutions:
18. Jacob Brown (for Fletcher 68)
20. Tashan Oakley-Boothe (for Powell 77)
7. Tom Ince (for Campbell 77)
Unused Substitutes:
1. Angus Gunn, 6. Danny Batth, 19. Lee Gregory, 9. Sam Vokes.
Stoke manager Michael O’Neillsaid:
"I thought the assistant was poor all night and the decision he gave, how he gives it, it was so instant, we could hear him shouting 'red card, red card' straight away, and having watched it back Nathan's just blocked the striker's run as you'd expect a centre-back to do and the Barnsley player's thrown himself to the ground and held his face.
"It's not really the referee's fault as the referee has to take the information that he's given by the assistant, but having watched it back the assistant should never have been making that decision, I'm not sure he's in a great position - he's looking along the line but there's three bodies between him and Nathan as well.
"It's not a situation where someone would elbow someone in the face in all honesty, and Nathan's not that kind of a lad. He's devastated in there and it's a really, really poor decision.
"It took our momentum away, I think we were in a strong position to go on and win the game and the red card changed that."
Sky Bet Championship results
TUESDAY 20TH OCTOBER 2020
Bristol City (2nd) 0-1 Middlesbrough (11th)
Saville 73
Coventry City (19th) 1-1 Swansea City (6th)
Shipley 19
Ayew 41
Huddersfield Town (9th) 1-0 Derby County (22nd)
Bacuna 53
Millwall (5th) 2-0 Luton Town (12th)
Cranie og 45+4
Mahoney 79
Norwich City (8th) 1-0 Birmingham City (18th)
Vrancic 87
Nottingham Forest (20th) 1-1 Rotherham United (17th)
Barlaser pen 51
Ameobi 79
Reading (1st) 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers (23rd)
Lucas Joao 63
WEDNESDAY 21ST OCTOBER 2020
Cardiff City (13th) 1-1 AFC Bournemouth (4th)
Solanke 35
Wilson 62
Queens Park Rangers (16th) 0-2 Preston North End (15th)
Johnson pen 24
Sinclair pen 60
Sheffield Wednesday (24th) 1-2 Brentford (7th)
Toney 7
Paterson 25
Toney 30
Stoke City (10th) 2–2 BARNSLEY (21st)
Simoes 18
Campbell 44
Frieser 45+1
Smith 48
Watford (3rd) 3-1 Blackburn Rovers (14th)
Joao Pedro 13
Cleverley 17
Brereton 28
Lenihan og 49
Barnsley lie in 21st place in the Sky Bet Championship with 3 points from 6 games. We are 8 points off the Play-Offs, 10 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 13 points off First Place and Goal Difference above inside the Relegation Zone.
Up to 22/10/20
Next Up:
On The Road:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Seven: Millwall v Barnsley, Saturday 24th October 2020. Kick-Off: 3pm.
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Eight: Barnsley v Queens Park Rangers, Tuesday 27th October 2020. Kick-Off: 7:45pm