CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND-UP: Tyrese Campbell scores late to earn Stoke 1-1 draw against Swansea

It may take Alex Neil several days to pick the bones out of a chaotic opening night as Stoke City’s manager.

They left it late to snatch a point, but Tyrese Campbell swept in a 90th-minute equaliser from Aden Flint’s header, just as it looked as if defeat was inevitable.

Joel Piroe’s sixth-minute goal for the visitors had started to look as if it would be enough to decide the match, but 1-0 would have been an unjust scoreline.

Neil, though, might be forgiven for wondering what he has walked into. He was cheered on to the pitch at kick-off, but his players were booed off at half-time after a disjointed first-half display. By the end, though, the applause was heard loudly around the Bet365 Stadium once more.

It was a night when neither side displayed much solidity, with Swansea frequently running into trouble when trying to play out from the back, yet able to find gaping holes in the home defence whenever they worked the ball forward.

The visitors got lucky in the opening three minutes when goalkeeper Andy Fisher played a loose pass from the edge of his penalty area, and had to scramble back as Lewis Baker’s 35-yard chip hit the bar, recovering to claw out Dwight Gayle’s headed follow-up just in time.

Yet despite looking a mess at the back, Swansea had enough about them to grab the lead. Wing-back Matthew Sorinola delivered a low cross from the right, and Piroe snuck in between centre-backs Connor Taylor and Aden Flint to steer home his second goal in two games.

Swansea climbed out of the relegation zone but could not hold onto Joel Piroe’s early opener

Piroe could have had three more before half-time as Stoke continued to leave their left flank wide open. Home goalkeeper Jack Bonham denied former Stoke midfielder Joe Allen a goal, and watched on as Ollie Cooper’s 20-yard bicycle kick bounced just wide.

But Swansea looked just as vulnerable in defence, with Gayle chipping just wide from 50 yards as Fisher strayed from his line again, and the Swans keeper flapping as Ben Wilmot glanced a Jordan Thompson corner wide.

The second half offered no drop off in the entertainment, and no less chaos.. Swansea’s Cooper ended a run with a shot deflected just wide off Flint, who moments later headed over a Thompson free-kick from six yards at the other end.

Liam Delap, on loan from Manchester City, looked set to equalise from a Campbell cutback, but his shot was somehow blocked as Swansea defenders threw themselves in the way. The hosts piled on the pressure in the final minutes, with two penalty appeals rejected, but they finally got their reward, to Neil’s relief.