Ten-man Stoke held promotion-chasing Ipswich to a goalless draw on New Year’s Day.
Midfielder Jordan Thompson was sent off in the second half for two bookable offences as the resilient hosts’ held on for a well-deserved point.
Southampton missed a glorious chance to slash Ipswich’s lead in second to just a point after they were held to a frustrating draw at Norwich.
Steven Schumacher, who took over the Potters last month, masterminded Plymouth’s Sky Bet League One-winning campaign last term as the Tractor Boys finished second.
The former Everton youngster frustrated Kieran McKenna once again as Ipswich’s winless run stretched to five – their longest in the league since April 2022.
For Stoke, they have now gone six games without defeat, but have only won one game in two months.
The Potteries fans were hopeful 2024 would spark a new dawn of results.
As much as they saw Town dominate the ball, it was the hosts who had the better chances in the contest.
They will be buoyed by the fighting spirit and resilience shown after going down to 10 men.
The hosts were the first to show their intent as Lewis Baker forced Vaclav Hladky into an early save.
Daniel Johnson received his first yellow card for a seventh-minute foul on Kayden Jackson.
Schumacher’s Stoke came close to an opener when Moroccan Ryan Mmaee’s volley was well kept out by Hladky.
Ipswich found their way into the contest as Conor Chaplin was denied by Jack Bonham.
Referee James Bell was replaced by the fourth official on the half-hour mark due to injury.
The hosts continued to threaten as half-time approached, with Baker again frustrated by Hladky after he cut onto his left foot before the Ipswich goalkeeper denied the midfielder in stoppage time.
McKenna’s visitors were quick out of the blocks after the break.
Bonham was strong at his near post to keep out Wes Burns’ strike, while at the other end, Dutchman Wouter Burger had a goal chalked off for offside on the hour mark.
But it was backs to the walls for the Potters after Thompson was sent off for a second yellow card when he felled Chaplin.
Burns then nodded over the bar at the back post from Sam Morsy’s cross as Ipswich pushed for a winner.
Ipswich huffed and puffed, but Stoke held firm for a valiant point.
Last-chance saloon for Napoli in European race
Napoli's Serie A title defence has long since ended, and they must beat Fiorentina on Friday to have any hope of playing in Europe next season.
Napoli strolled to the Scudetto last year, clinching the title with five games to spare and finishing 16 points ahead of runners-up Lazio.
This time around, it was Inter who wrapped up the league with five games remaining, while Napoli sit ninth in the standings, 41 points adrift of the leaders with a Europa Conference League spot their only hope of playing in Europe.
Napoli are without a win in their last five games, though even if they can get back to winning ways, their European hopes would be out of their own hands due to having played a game more than Fiorentina.
Fiorentina have won three of their last five league matches, and won the previous meeting between the sides 3-1, which could prove vital they end the season level on points and the head-to-head record comes into play.
Vincenzo Italiano's side have already qualified for this season's Europa Conference League final, where they face Greek side Olympiacos in Athens.
The Viola, unbeaten in Europe this season, are aiming to end the league campaign on a high and take that momentum into the final - they are looking to go one better than last year when they lost to West Ham in the final.
Napoli are likely to be without top scorer Victor Osimhen, who is a serious doubt due to a muscular problem. Fiorentina, meanwhile, welcome back Andre Belotti who missed Monday's win over Monza.
Busby aiming to reset culture, objectives ahead of World Cup Qualifying campaign
A reset of the culture as well as objectives of the Jamaica Senior Women’s National Team or “Reggae Girlz” is of paramount importance to returning Head coach Hubert Busby Jr.
Busby Jr was rehired last week after previously serving in the role in 2021 and won’t have a lot of time to settle back into the role as his first assignment will be to navigate a pair of international friendlies with global football powerhouses Brazil on June 1 and 4.
The two teams last met at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup where a 0-0 draw secured the Reggae Girlz spot as the first Caribbean nation to ever advance from the group stage at a World Cup.
The squad for these two friendlies can be looked at as a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, 18 of the members of the squad were in that history-making World Cup squad but, on the other hand, they haven’t played together since that tournament which was nine months ago.
“I think coming back in with two weeks to go, there is a lot of work to do in a short period of time and the idea that the core of this particular group hasn’t been together in nine months so there’s a lot of work that we’re doing now behind the scenes to get up to speed in terms of watching Brazil and getting the players organized,” he said in an interview with JFFLive on Wednesday.
Busby Jr then went into detail on two of his major objectives in his second stint as Head coach of the Reggae Girlz.
“More importantly, I think, some of the objectives for us is to reset the culture, reset the objectives in terms of what we’re looking to do and understand, I know it’s the most used cliché in sports, but whatever we do, we really have to stick to a process of how we look to get back to the next World Cup in 2027,” explained Busby Jr.
“This is just the first part in utilizing each and every window, making sure that, regardless of the results, we are hitting our targets of what we want to accomplish heading into the World Cup Qualifiers,” he added.
Brazil will be using these friendlies as preparation for the Olympic Games where they won consecutive silver medals at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.
These two friendlies will also be the last home international appearances for perhaps the greatest female footballer ever, Marta, who has announced that she will retire after the Paris Games.
“This is going to be a little bit of a send-off match for them. It will also be Marta’s last game in Brazil in front of her home crowd before she retires and there’s a little bit of a revenge factor from what happened at the World Cup so we’ve got to manage all of that,” Busby Jr said.
“We’re going to have these three training sessions and prepare the team for these matches,” he ended.
Ederson to miss Man City's final two games of season
Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson will miss the final two games of the season due to a fractured eye socket.
The Citizens face West Ham on Sunday as they aim to win a fourth consecutive Premier League title, before taking on rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final on May 25.
The goalkeeper was involved in a heavy collision with Cristian Romero in their 2-0 win over Tottenham on Tuesday, with the goalkeeper initially allowed to continue after receiving treatment before being replaced by Stefan Ortega.
City revealed Ederson has since undergone scans which revealed a small fracture to the right eye socket, forcing him out of their last two games of the season.
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