Stoke City have lost 2-1 at home to Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace side at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday. With new American investors in tow for the travelling London side, it was a first taste of the Premier League which resulted in a dramatic last minute winner.

Solid performance

This recent game in the Premier game was not hugely important in regards to results. Both sides are solidly in the top half and are under impressive runs in the Premier League. However with the competitive and uncertain nature that has so far embodied the 2015/2016 season, both sides looked to extend on their recent performances and secure their places in the top half.

Stoke looked the most dominant side in the first half, commanding both the possession and the offensive play. However luck was the only thing that Mark Hughes failed to muster as Glen Johnson, Xherdan Shaquiri and Bojan all had their shot saved by Crystal Palace goalkeeper Hennessey, who was having a stellar performance.

Luck fell more in the way of Crystal Palace as Stoke defender Glen Whelan conceded a penalty which resulted in Connor Wickham striking the ball home in front of the Stoke faithful. For all of Stoke’s chances, they had failed to truly trouble the opposition’s goal.

As the second half began, Stoke faced the remaining 45 minutes of play which was swinging slowly and surely in the way of the travelling team. What the Potters needed more than anything was a turning point, a decisive moment in the game which allow them to control the game once again.  That’s exactly what the home side got as Krkic struck home a conceded penalty to level the score for the home side as Dennis Delaney handled the ball in the net to make the game even tenser for the remaining 14 minutes.

The game looked as if it was going for a draw, Stoke had failed once again to press on their advantage of the game as shots from Stokes forward attacking players Arnautovic and Shaquiri were easily saved from Hennessey. That is until newly substituted Lee Chung-Yong for Palace decided to put another twist in the game as his stunning 25 yard strike sailed past Jack Butland to claim all three points for Alan Pardew’s side in the dying minutes of the game.

Mark Hughes’ view

Stoke City will feel aggrieved not to have taken the three points after their long dominant spells during the game resulted in no major chances for the home side. Although mostly superior throughout the vast lengths of the game, Stoke lacked the spark that they showed two weeks ago against Manchester City.

Manager Mark Hughes believes that “there is no way” that Stoke should have lost that game as after Stoke successfully “tried to get back into the game” their attempts on the Palace net resulted in no goals for the home team. This is the second time that Palace have come to the Britannia and come out on top over Hughes’ side.

Stoke “played well enough” shown by their 58% of possession but in the end, the result just didn’t swing their way as the home side “was just unlucky” and that “on another day Stoke would have won”.

Perhaps Stoke will have missed a great opportunity to extend on their top 10 credentials and will be especially disappointed from the fact that from their 26 shots on goal, only six of those were on target, clearly illustrating that Hughes will be focussing on  the teams finishing as they now face a pressured Manchester United on Boxing Day. 

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