Egypt’s Sobhi earns point for Stoke at Huddersfield

Substitute Ramadan Sobhi earned Stoke City a 1-1 draw away to Huddersfield Town as Mark Hughes’s side continued to creep away from the Premier League’s bottom three.

Sobhi was sent as a first-half substitute for injured defender Ryan Shawcross and scored for the second match running as Stoke moved into 13th place with 20 points, three points above the relegation places they were sliding towards of late.

Tom Ince had given Huddersfield a deserved lead after 10 minutes when he side-footed in Collin Quaner’s cut-back from close range to register his first goal for the club and his first top-flight goal for nearly four years.

Stoke’s threat came mainly from set pieces although Huddersfield’s Danish keeper Jonas Lossl made a stunning one-handed stop to keep out an overhead kick by Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting that was millimeters away from crossing the line.

The visitors deserved something for their efforts though and Sobhi tapped home at the far post on the hour to leave Hughes reasonably satisfied with the outcome.

“It was a little bit to and fro and you could argue we had more clear cut chances,” Hughes said. “After their goal we kept at it, pushing and asking questions. We showed good desire.”

Huddersfield are undefeated in their last three games and will go into the new year in 11th spot.

“I think it was a fair result even if I can say we dominated them over the majority of the time and we controlled them,” Huddersfield boss David Wagner said. “This gives me a very good feeling because everyone knows Stoke City is a top, established Premier League side with some top, top individuals.

“We were competitive, collected another point, which is a good point alongside a good performance; a point is okay.”