Neither Newcastle United nor Stoke City were able to find a breakthrough as both sides had to settle for a point after a 0-0 draw in the Premier League clash at St James's Park.
Newcastle secured their first win of the season in their last home match a fortnight ago and they had the first chance of the game in a frantic opening few minutes when Ayoze Perez cut inside, but the striker's weak shot was easily fielded by Jack Butland.
Stoke had a penalty shout turned down just a minute later when Bojan hit the floor under a challenge from Paul Dummett on the edge of the area, before Chancel Mbemba headed wide from a Newcastle corner after Philipp Wollscheid had deflected Aleksandar Mitrovic's shot over the crossbar.
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Jonathan Walters was rewarded for his fine goal against Chelsea in midweek with a Premier League start, and he came within inches of scoring the game's opening goal when he slid in but just could not convert after Mbemba sliced his clearance from Charlie Adam's cross.
Newcastle came even closer just before the half-hour mark when Mitrovic glanced Moussa Sissoko's cross off the inside of the post as the hosts began to exert their influence upon the match, but the game got increasingly scrappy in the closing moments of the first half.
Perez started the second half as he had the first, posing a danger to the Potters defence, but this time he could only cut inside Glen Johnson and fire wide after Mitrovic had teed him up on the edge of the box.
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After Butland turned Georginio Wijnaldum's free kick over the crossbar the game sparked into life, as first Stoke went close through Walters's header before Butland's fine save denied Sissoko after the midfielder exchanged passes with Wijnaldum and burst into the box.
Mbemba somehow turned the ball wide from six yards and a last-ditch block from Erik Pieters denied Mitrovic a tap-in as the Magpies went in search of a second win of the season, before Butland's fine finger-tip stop turned Sissoko's fierce drive around the post.
Tom Nightingale
