Stoke City Faces Disappointment: Baek Jun-ho’s Performance in 1-3 Loss Against Preston North End

Bae Jun-ho / Photo: GettyImages

[Sports Today reporter Shin Seo-young] Stoke City slipped to a 3-1 defeat after surrendering a lead, with Bae Jun-ho coming off the bench.

Stoke City fell 3-1 to Preston North End in the 39th round of the 2025-2026 Championship at Deepdale in Preston, England, on March 21 (Korean time).

The result leaves Stoke City with a 14-9-16 record (51 points), sitting 14th in the table.

Preston North End moved to 13-13-13 (52 points), good for 12th place.

Bae, who began the match on the bench, was brought on three minutes into the second half and played until the final whistle but did not record a goal or assist.

According to football statistics site FootMob, Bae logged 42 minutes, 27 touches, one shot, one chance created, a 73% pass completion rate (8/11), three tackles and won 88% of his ground duels (7/8).

Despite coming on as a substitute, Bae earned the club’s third-highest rating of 7.2.

Stoke City looked set for a bright start when Sorba Thomas opened the scoring just four minutes in. Alfie Devine then equalized in the 15th minute, and the teams went into the break level at 1-1.

Bae replaced Steven Nzonzi three minutes into the second half.

Preston turned the game around in the second half: Milutin Osmajic headed them into the lead in the 57th minute, and Devine added a second goal three minutes later to complete his brace and secure a 3-1 victory.

In stoppage time, Bae went for a header but struck the post, leaving him frustrated. He now has three goals and three assists in 40 official matches this season.

Bae, who was named to South Korea’s March A-match squad, will join the national team after this fixture.

Under head coach Hong Myung-bo, South Korea will face Ivory Coast at 11:00 p.m. on March 28 at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes, then play Austria at 3:45 a.m. on April 1 at Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna as part of the March international window.

[Sports Today reporter Shin Seo-young sports@stoo.com]
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