Peter Crouch struck in the second half to ensure that Stoke City earned a 1-1 draw from their first pre-season friendly of the summer away at Bundesliga outfit Borussia Monchengladbach this afternoon.
There was very little to split the two sides in a first half that started 15 minutes late due to the stormy weather in the Rottach-Egern area of Germany.
However, within three minutes of the restart, the hosts went in front thanks to Chelsea loanee Thorgan Hazard, who is the brother of Blues attacker Eden. Charlie Adam gifted possession to Monchengladbach and the Scot was made to pay when the younger Hazard sibling beat Thomas Sorensen with a low finish.
Their lead would last for just 18 minutes, though, as Jonathan Walters squared a pass for Crouch, who converted from three yards out.
As the minutes petered away, goalscoring opportunities were few and far between at either end, although in the final minute Sorensen was called upon to divert a deflected effort onto the crossbar, before getting up in time to collect the rebound.
Liam Apicella
