MATCH FACTS
- Date – 18th September 2016
- Venue – Selhurst Park
- Attendance – 23,781
- Referee – Craig Pawson
- Bookings – McArthur, Puncheon
- Goals – Tomkins (9), Dann (12), McArthur (71), Townsend (75)
- Star Eagle – Andros Townsend (8.80)
TEB VERDICT
A terrific performance from a resurgent Palace side against a very poor Stoke side. Take nothing away from the Eagles though as they showed that there is no room for sentiment with some clinical finishing and excellent all round play in this demolition of a team that they have a lot of joy with in recent fixtures.
PLAYER RATINGS (courtesy of Who Scored)
30 Steve Mandanda (6.4) – There really was not an awful lot for the French keeper to do in this one, hence the low score.
2 Joel Ward (7.6) – Plenty of questions lately about his performances but provided a solid display even to the point of being ill on the pitch!
6 Scott Dann (7.6) – The captain never ceases to amaze. Got himself on the score sheet once again and marshaled the back line throughout.
5 James Tomkins (7.7) – Very good half from the former Hammer and scoring his first goal for the club. Did not return for the second half due to injury and replaced by 27 Damien Delaney (7.5) on 46 minutes. The Irishman perhaps had a point to prove and other than a couple of misplaced passes, had a great half.
34 Martin Kelly (6.9) – Certainly not a left back but after his good game at Boro, deserved to continue in the absence of Souare. Much more defensively minded which may help the cause in some less one sided games than this one.
18 James McArthur (8.4) – This guy is just a machine. Covered what seemed to be every blade of grass on the Selhurst Park pitch. A vital cog in this Palace side.
16 Joe Ledley (7.5) – Formed one half of a double act with McArthur in the midfield with the Welshman more than playing his part. Replaced by 4 Mathieu Flamini (6.0) on 78 minutes to provide some fresh legs and experience to see out the game.
42 Jason Puncheon (8.1) – Another fine showing and involved in a lot of what Palace did well to see off the visitors. Pivotal in the midfield with his close ball control and distribution.
10 Andros Townsend (8.8) – Best game in a Palace shirt for the new addition but that goal – just sublime and is what Townsend is all about. Replaced by 14 Chung-yong Lee (6.1) on 85 minutes who had little time to make an impression on the game.
11 Wilfried Zaha (8.0) – Picked up from where he left off at Boro by providing a very good attacking performance. Noticable that he has worked on his defensive duties by getting back whenever possible.
17 Christian Benteke (7.2) – Did not manage to get on the score sheet but his game is much more than that. He will win Palace games in the future and played his part in this one with a classy but battling display as the lone striker.
Unused substitutes – 1 Wayne Hennessey, 19 Zeki Fryers, 26 Bakary Sako, 21 Connor Wickham
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAID
“We looked solid. We are a powerful team and we looked like that today. It was that power that won us the game. Andros was sensational. He has been threatening to do that and I hope Sam Allardyce was watching because he was outstanding. It was a solid performance, it was a shame they scored because they did not deserve that.” – ALAN PARDEW talking to BBC Sport.
“The start did not help our situation, it has been happening in almost every game. We are too open and teams capitalise on that. We are not giving ourselves a chance. It is key we stay in games, at the moment we are just chasing them too much. This is not the start we expected.” – MARK HUGHES talking to BBC Sport.
MATCH STATISTICS
The Who Scored man of the match was Andros Townsend (8.8). Wilfried Zaha had the most shots in the match (4) while he also made the most tackles along with James McArthur and Glenn Whelan (5). Wilfried Zaha also made the most dribbles (5).
- Team rating: 7.42 – 6.42
- Total shots: 14 – 11
- Shots on target: 8 – 4
- Possession: 56.6% – 43.4%
- Pass success: 82% – 74%
- Dribbles: 17 – 5
- Aerials won: 19 – 21
- Tackles: 27 – 28
- Corners: 10 – 5
- Dispossessed: 21 – 21
POSITION IN THE TABLE
The three points takes Palace to three games unbeaten and up to eighth in the Premier League table on seven points. They sit two points behind Manchester United in seventh and level on points with four other team (Watford, West Brom, Leicester and Hull).
