Stoke City 2 Wigan Athletic 2

The Premier League game between Stoke City and Wigan Athletic at the Brittannia Stadium on Saturday, December 12 2009.

A stunning long range finish executed to perfection by Maynor Figueroa was the highlight of a rousing encounter between two of the Premier League also rans at the Britannia Stadium.

The Wigan Athletic defender stepped up to the mark with 18 minutes remaining to take a free kick awarded 10 yards inside his own half. The Honduras player spotted Thomas Sorensen off his line and glided the sweetest of left foot shots over the Stoke City goalkeeper as the visitors seized the lead for the second time.

Sorensen, though, would have the final, decisive say in this stalemate when he saved Hugo Rodallega’s feeble penalty in the final minute after Robert Huth’s clumsy challenge had felled Jordi Gomez in the 18-yard area.

It was perhaps fitting that the two teams should share the spoils as the home side relied on their usual robust tactics while Wigan demonstrated all the defensive frailties that saw them concede nine goals in their last away fixture at White Hart Lane.

The Lancashire team, however, persevered with a traditional passing game and were rewarded when Emmerson Boyce headed the opener when Sorensen beat away Rodallega’s effort in the 15th minute. Boyce took a blow to the head from Salif Diao in the process and though he returned with a bandage on his wound, he did not appear for the second half.

By then Stoke had levelled when Tuncay plundered his first goal for the club from an acute angle although the initial flick-on to the Turkey forward came from Ryan Shawcross who had clearly been in an offside position.

Stoke should have pressed on after the interval as Tuncay, Ricardo Fuller and substitute Glenn Whelan were desperately close to adding a second. Figueroa’s spectacular shot seemed to have compounded what had been a difficult week for Stoke after reports of a dressing room altercation between James Beattie and manager Tony Pulis following the defeat at Arsenal.

But a Shawcross header from Matthew Etherington’s corner two minutes later rescued a draw although Andy Wilkinson was fortunate to remain on the pitch after an ugly late tackle on Mario Melchiot which merited a red card when he was shown only a yellow by referee Mike Dean.