A Marco Arnautovic double downed Middlesbrough, but it was another Stoke City man who shone at the Bet365 Stadium this weekend.
Stoke City rose to ninth in the Premier League table after securing their ninth league victory of the season against relegation threatened Middlesbrough.
The 2-0 scoreline reads well for scorer of both of Stoke’s goals, Austrian star Marco Arnautovic, but the sub-narrative of the encounter was focused around an emerging talent in the Potteries – Egyptian winger Ramadan Sobhi.
Sobhi, a summer signing by Stoke boss Mark Hughes, has flown largely below the radar so far this campaign – with the winger playing less than 200 minutes of Premier League football for Stoke before his departure for the African Cup of Nations in January.
However, upon his return, the 20-year-old winger has started each of the last three top flight games for Hughes – consisting of increasingly impressive showings against Crystal Palace, Tottenham Hotspur and this weekend’s stand-out performance against Boro.
Sobhi put forth an old-fashioned wingers performance – complete with tricks, skills and purposeful flicks galore. Indeed, team mate Jonathan Walters took to Twitter to describe how Sobhi’s display twisted the blood of Middlesbrough’s defenders (with the unfortunate Fabio on the receiving end more than most).
Although Arnautovic stole the headlines with his brace, Sobhi can consider himself unlucky not to have marked his game with a goal – as the winger hit the crossbar with one attempt and had another saved by opposing goalkeeper Victor Valdes.
After the victory, ecstatic Stoke City supporters took to social network platform Twitter to express their delight with their number 32 – with praise for Sobhi also supplemented by compatriot and former Premier League striker Mido.
Here is a taste of the reaction to Ramadan Sobhi’s eye-catching performance for Stoke against Middlesbrough:
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