Premier League Review – Crystal Palace 2-1 Stoke City

Match Facts

• Date – 7th May 2016
• Venue – Selhurst Park
• Attendance – 23,990
• Referee – Kevin Friend
• Bookings – Soaure, McArthur, Whelan, Pieters
• Goals – Adam (26), Gayle (47, 68)
• Star Eagle – Dwight Gayle (8.8)

Match Review

The last Premier League action of the season at Selhurst Park saw an excellent comeback by the Eagles to see off Stoke for the third time this season.

With captain Mile Jedinak carrying a knock from the defeat to Newcastle United, Palace boss Alan Pardew opted to change the formation and hand a start to Dwight Gayle. It proved to be an inspired decision.

The twenty-five year old striker has not had a regular run in the team this season but scored a double to bring his tally to seven for the season in all competitions making him the top scorer at the club.

The first of the game for the Walthamstow born player was thanks to a brilliant run from Yannick Bolasie, leaving defenders in his wake before the ball fell to Gayle who calmly slotted home.

With what turned out to be the winner was all Gayle’s own doing. Positioning himself well to win a foul from a frustrated Ryan Shawcross, Gayle stepped up to fire the ball home from just outside the area.

That goal completed a good fightback from the Eagles after going behind to a Charlie Adam strike after starting the game well but fading as the half wore on. It was a well worked goal but questions will be asked about the defending allowing impressive midfielder Gianelli Imbula plenty of space to push the visitors forward. Stoke had a great chance just before going ahead thwarted by Wayne Hennessey who raced off his line to save at the feet of Swiss international Xherdan Shaqiri.

A deflected free kick from Yohan Cabaye was perhaps the best chance for Palace in the first forty-five minutes which summed up the half for the Frenchman who was very out of sorts. Left back Pape Souare went close to his first goal for the club with a late run into the area but his effort flew over the bar.

Palace came of the blocks quickly and got themselves level within two minutes of the break with Gayle’s first which set the tone for the second half. Chances fell to Jason Puncheon who blasted over from close range and great work out wide by Bolasie and Souare gave Connor Wickham a chance to score similar to that goal at Wembley but this time his header came back off the post.

Veteran striker Peter Crouch caused the Palace back line plenty of trouble throughout and his best chance came with a header at the back post which he has more often that not put into the back of the net but Souare did enough to put the Stoke man off.

The best chance Stoke had to equalise was courtesy of a lapse in the defence. Hennessey found himself in no mans land on the edge of the area but Austrian Marko Arnoutovic fired just over much to the relief of the Palace faithful.

So a much needed three points settles any fears of relegation, however unlikely. It moves Palace to fourteenth in the Premier League with just one game left to play which is a much healthier view than of recent weeks.

One injury concern was Joe Ledley who replaced Cabaye at the break but lasted only eight minutes with what like an ankle injury forcing him off. His replacement Jordon Mutch looked very comfortable both on the ball and in the tackle in what was a longer cameo than he expected.

TEB Verdict

Plenty of character shown to fight back from going a goal down and a couple of individual performances that will give Pardew an injury headache ahead of the cup final. There was a real feel good factor in and around the ground and the players responded with an terrific win.

Player Ratings (courtesy of Who Scored)

• Wayne Hennessey (5.8) – Not often called upon but when he was, he dealt with the threat well. Great stop to thwart Shaqiri but questionable positioning late on for Arnautovic chance.
• Joel Ward (7.3) – Solid game from the right back both with his defensive duties and going forward.
• Scott Dann (6.5) – Not one of his better games, mistake that almost let in the visitors but battled well.
• Damien Delaney (6.6) – Worked hard but seemed to struggle a little like his defensive partner.
• Pape Souare (7.0) – Good showing on the left, great chance to score but effort flew just over.
• James McArthur (7.6) – Continued to show just what we have missed in a box to box performance from the energetic midfielder.
• Yohan Cabaye (6.0) – Out of sorts in the first half, easily rattled by the opposition. Replaced by Joe Ledley (6.1) on 46 minutes who soon left the pitch due to injury. Replaced by Jordon Mutch (6.3) on 56 minutes who gave Palace a little something extra in a decent cameo.
• Jason Puncheon (6.9) – Not quite up to his usual standard but that did not stop him trying to get things going in the middle.
• Dwight Gayle (8.8) – Worked hard alongside Wickham and got his reward with two well taken goals. Replaced by Bakary Sako (6.0) on 90 minutes who had no time to make an impact.
• Yannick Bolasie (7.7) – Struggled a little in the first half but the second was a different story. Set up the first goal and tormented the visiting defence for the remainder.
• Connor Wickham (6.7) – A real number nine performance from the big man, battled and worked hard throughout.

Unused substitutes – Julian Speroni, Martin Kelly, Frazier Campbell, Emmanuel Adebayor.

Match Statistics

The Who Scored man of the match was Dwight Gayle (8.8). Most shots by Dwight Gayle (4). Most tackles by Peter Crouch and Phil Bardsley (3). Most dribbles by Yannick Bolasie (6).

• Team rating: 6.80 – 6.56
• Total shots: 17 – 12
• Shots on target: 4 – 3
• Possession: 56.1% – 43.9%
• Pass success: 76% – 69%
• Dribbles: 11 – 9
• Aerials won: 12 – 19
• Tackles: 9 – 16
• Corners: 4 – 3
• Dispossessed: 11 – 6

Premier League Table