Crystal Palace battled on to win 1-0 at Selhurst Park, with Jason Puncheon being the man on the scoresheet. Puncheon capitalised on an error by Oussama Assaidi and drilled in the only goal of the game, a win which sees Palace lift off the foot of the table.
Crystal Palace manager, Tony Pulis’ reaction: “Sixteen games to go and we’ve given ourselves a chance from not having a chance but we can’t get carried away.
“Punch [Jason Puncheon] is a good player and people miss penalties. People might say not by that much but Punch had to get over it and there were no problems.”
Pulis was also aware of the support and warm reception he gained from the travelling Stoke fans. “It was wonderful from the Stoke supporters and I thank them very much. We had a wonderful 10 years together.
“My wife and daughters were Stoke supporters for 10 years so it was difficult for everybody but the main thing was the three points and I hope and pray to be able to go back to Stoke with Palace next season.”
Stoke City boss, Mark Hughes’ reaction: “We huffed and puffed a bit and tried to force the issue but made it difficult for ourselves by conceding a poor goal. That’s been the case of late and it’s something we need to take out of our game.
“Once they got the first goal, in a game that lacked quality, that was going to be key to winning the game and Palace were able to get that through poor defending.
“We need to nip that in the bud and we gave them a helping hand. They were able to get people behind the ball and we didn’t have the guile or purpose to create the chances.”
By Phil Wellbrook
