by Martin Spinks
martin.spinks@thesentinel.co.uk

Stoke City 1
Hapoel Tel Aviv 1

SALIF Diao shook hands and embraced the opposition keeper before the game, then gave him a proverbial slap in the face by unleashing a remarkably struck effort to provide the stunning highlight of last night’s friendly in Leoben.

Remarkable not just because it flew over the goalkeeper from at least 40 yards, but also because it was a first Stoke goal for a player recently dubbed the worst shooter in the club.

And to score it against a fellow African, a man he obviously knows pretty well, was all the sweeter for the former Senegal international.

Stoke, wearing a borrowed green shirt because of a clash of colours, produced just that one telling shot at goal in the first period of last night’s action ... but what a shot.

The game was 33 minutes old when the Tel Aviv goalkeeper slipped as he attempted a routine clearance from the edge of the box.

The ball skewed low to Diao on the edge of the centre circle inside the Israelis’ half, at least 40 yards from goal, and what followed fair took your breath away.

Diao aim has been so poor in training that he ‘won’ the competition for the club’s worst at shooting during a session earlier in the tour.

But his effort on this occasion was caught so sweet and with such accuracy that it simply rocketed over the retreating goalkeeper and crashed into the top right-hand corner off the underside of the bar.

Stoke’s other efforts in sight of goal were, forgiveably, not quite so devastating during an opening period warranting their one-goal lead on the balance and effectiveness of the play.

City’s set-pieces were frequently causing problems, not least on the half-hour when Rory Delap’s throw just eluded Ryan Shawcross and then bounced so high that James Beattie was also heading thin air.

Beattie was far more acquainted with the ball in the 36th minute, however, when latching on to Andy Griffin’s ball down the right channel before unleashing an angled drive the keeper did well not to spill.

Tel Aviv carved open far more shooting opportunities during the first half, but none packed anything like the punch or precision we saw from deadly Diao.

Indeed, only when diving to his left in the 41st minute to collect ‘one for the cameras’ did Steve Simonsen even come close to extending himself on behalf of his clean sheet.

Stoke made a clutch of changes soon after the restart and perhaps that might explain why they were sufficiently disorganised for anyone to close down as a firm shot from all of 25 yards beat Simonsen’s full-length dive to his left to level the scores.

Further changes left City unsuccessfully seeking the kind of momentum and fluency they had so frequently produced in the opening 45 minutes.

The central midfield partnership changed at least three times as Stoke were forced to defend several balls Tel Aviv were unable to convert in front of goal.

Simonsen then enjoyed a quiet spell between the sticks before being well placed to ensure a neat Tel Aviv move didn’t end with their second goal.

Chances had dried up entering the final 10 minutes of a game lacking anything like the rhythm and lustre witnessed earlier in the evening when Stoke had their ‘A’ team on the field.

But Tel Aviv did come perilously close to a great grandstand finish.

Da Silva produced some Brazilian skill to leave Tom Soares spinning and watching helplessly as the ball was drilled across the face of goal, just begging a final touch.

Stoke City: Simonsen, Griffin (Davies, 52), Shawcross (Cort, 59), Ab Faye (Sonko, 62), Higginbotham (Shotton, 62), Lawrence (Soares, 55), Whelan (Dickinson, 55), Diao (Pugh, 50), Etherington (Tonge, 52), Delap (Cresswell, 50), Beattie (Kitson, 50).