Stoke City have acquired their first points in the 2013/14 season after goals from Charlie Adam and Ryan Shawcross secured a comeback to beat pointless Crystal Palace 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium.
Both teams lost 1-0 last weekend against Spurs and Liverpool respectively on a tough opening day for both sides. So both teams would have been ready and raring to go and get a win for their fans at The Britannia Stadium; not the fortress it once was with the Potters only winning 1 of their last 6 games at home, against teams that could finish around the bottom of the table come the end of the season.
This game against Palace was Mark Hughes’ first home game at Stoke since replacing Tony Pulis. Pulis is still held in high regard by most Potters fans but was sacked last summer due to a sense of stagnation around the Britannia. This was due to the club finishing in the middle of the Premier League table every year since they were promoted from the Championship in 2008. A decision Stoke could possibly live to regret.
Some Stoke fans may have been feeling that it could be another long season when new boys Crystal Palace deservedly went in front 31 minutes into the game through the loanee from Arsenal, Marouane Chamakh. Stoke were beaten at their own came as Palace hoofed the ball upfield to the Moroccan and there appeared to be no danger. However, England international centre back Ryan Shawcross failed to adequately secure the ball which allowed Chamakh, who has been shy of Premier League games since his arrival in England for Bordeaux, to cooly take it past Robert Huth and slot it through highly rated keeper Asmir Begovic’s legs. Good finish.
Ian Holloway’s team away record last season was one to be frowned upon, winning just 6 of their 23 away games in the Championship last year, excluding The Eagles’ playoff triumph at Wembley 3 months ago. This poor record and the lack of Premier League experience in the Palace side showed as Charlie Adam, who was Holloway’s star man when he managed Blackpool in the Premier League, put one over on his old manager when he slotted the ball past long serving Eagles goalkeeper Julian Speroni just before the hour mark. Some say Mark Hughes would change Stoke’s style of play ,which usually sees them score through lumping the ball into the box. However, there was no evidence of this change as Geoff Cameron put a good ball into the giant that is Peter Crouch, who caused havoc in the Palace defence as he flicked onto Jonathan Walters who in turn cooly passed the ball to Scotsman Charlie Adam. His finish was pin point accurate.
Stoke put an abysmal first half behind them and the winner came just 4 minutes later due to some absolutely shambolic defending on Crystal Palace’s behalf. A trademark Stoke City long throw in was poorly cleared by Chamakh and his header found the opposition in the form of Robert Huth. His perseverance and determination allowed him to win the ball twice in the box. His second tackle on Chamakh, whose weedy attempt to stop the big German centre back may prompt questions of his commitment to the club by fans. Luckily the ball came to Ryan Shawcross who turned and slotted the ball into the bottom left hand corner of Speroni’s net.
The result leaves Stoke with their first 3 points of the campaign which puts them in the top half of the table and leaves Crystal Palace in the relegation places. With the teams below them having a game in hand as a fan you would have to console yourself that it is still early days.