Rotherham United 0 Stoke City 1: Perspiration, but no inspiration whatsoever as Millers suffer against Stoke once more

Yes, visits to this part of South Yorkshire have not been exactly profitable for the Potters over the past few decades; their previous victory was across the dual carriageway at Millmoor in 1993, with seven subsequent visits seeing them fail to win.

At last, they had their moment courtesy of a fine free-kick moments before the break from Lewis Baker.

Baker’s sumptuous effort lit up a pretty drab occasion in truth, where the only other brightness came by way of some welcome winter sunshine.

There was plenty of perspiration, but precious little inspiration going forward from the Millers, who huffed and puffed, but palpably lacked the wit and craft to trouble Stoke, who had beaten Rotherham 4-1 on the opening day of the league season and followed up with a 6-1 EFL Cup beating for good measure.

The hosts failed to muster a single effort on target.

That was just as alarming as the defeat, given the fact that home form will buttress any second subsequent ‘Great Escape’ from relegation. Away from home, the script is an all too familiar and depressing one.

The one moment of class came from the Potters.

A player with a penchant for set-pieces, Baker - who has spent previous loan spells in Yorkshire at Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds United and Middlesbrough - showcased his repertoire with a glorious strike with the last action of the first half in the fourth minute of stoppage time.

His effort - softly awarded when ex-Potters midfielder Sam Clucas - whose name was jeered by the travelling contingent from the Potteries when it was read out beforehand - was deemed to have fouled Jordan Thompson - arrowed into Viktor Johansson’s top right-hand corner.

It usually takes something special to beat the Swede and this was, unfortunately.

Head of referees Howard Webb was in attendance at his hometown club as Keith Stroud prepared to take charge of his 600th game as an EFL referee.

The early signs were that this would be a game with an edge with a clear contrast in styles apparent between the hosts and the Potters.

The visitors, with Wouter Burger at the hub of operations in midfield, were minded to try and stroke the ball around to try and probe and find the gaps.

By contrast, Rotherham donned their combat fatigues and were concerned with making life difficult for Stoke and not allowing them to settle - getting in their faces and then trying to counter-attack.

A few early long-throw exorcets from Sean Morrison - by way of an attempt at a softening up exercise - tested out Stoke’s mettle in central defence and they coped with it pretty well.

The closest that the hosts came in the opening half an hour came when Clucas drilled a fierce shot narrowly wide.

Stoke possessed a threat on the right in Andre Vidigal. Having scored twice in the opening day win, he clearly had a taste for more and tested the reaction of Viktor Johansson with an angled drive.

The Millers stubbornly refused to let Stoke dictate. But despite building a base camp, they had little else, ultimately.

It made for quite a scrappy spectacle, but it suited the hosts nevertheless, whose commitment and organisation and relish for the task in hand was there for all to see. Players were doing their jobs and staying on message, certainly at the back and midfield.

Their two up top struggled to make an impression, that said - and ahead of the interval, there was a big twist delivered in stunning fashion by Baker.

The onus was on Rotherham to be more proactive and find more gumption in their offensive work. It did not arrive.

The early salvos of the second half saw Stoke, buoyed by their opener, pose the questions.

Vidigal fired a decent chance over after good work between Sead Haksabanovic and Ki-Jana Hoever, with Millers supporters waiting for something to get them involved at the other end.

Rotherham eventually posted a modicum of pressure, with set-pieces looking their best hope.

One semi-dangerous moment saw a cross-shot from Hakeem Odoffin land on the roof of the net before Leam Richardson opted for changes with Tom Eaves and Cafu thrown on in a bid to change the narrative.

Arvin Appiah and Jamie Lindsay arrived just under ten minutes later. Still, that moment of poise and quality was absent from the hosts.

The scoreline at least ensured that they were still firmly in the game, with Stoke guilty of not finding the second goal to kill the game stone-dead.

They needn’t have worried, they didn’t need it, although they nearly got it with Johansson denying Vidigal late on.

Rotherham United: Johansson; Peltier (Appiah 73), Odoffin, Morrison, Revan, Bramall; Rathbone (Cafu 64), Tiehi, Clucas (Lindsay 73); Nombe (Kelly 83), Hugill (Eaves 64). Unused substitutes: Phillips, Bola, McGuckin.

Stoke City: Iversen, Hoever, McNally, Rose; Thompson; Burger, Cundle (Pearson 90), Baker; Vidigal, Mmaee (Campbell 80), Haksabanovic (Leris 65). Unused substitutes: Bonham, Gayle, Johnson, Wilmot, Wesley, Lowe.

Referee: K Stroud (Wilts).

Attendance: 11,002 (2,184 Stoke supporters).