Tony Pulis came up against Stoke City for the first time since leaving them last summer as Crystal Palace played host to his former club at Selhurst Park this afternoon.
The Welshman oversaw Stoke's promotion to the Premier League and then consolidated them as top-flight regulars, and his focus is now on doing the same with Palace, who were bottom of the table prior to kickoff.
Jason Puncheon put his horrific penalty miss last weekend behind him to score the only goal of the game for the Eagles on 51 minutes, and their winning margin could have been increased in the latter stages.
Joel Ward, Puncheon and Stuart O'Keefe were all thwarted by Potters keeper Jack Butland, but at the other end the visitors could not find an equaliser as Pulis's new side secured a victory which moves them out of the relegation zone and within two points of Mark Hughes's men, who are now winless in five.
Below, you can read how the action unfolded in London, courtesy of Sports Mole's live text coverage.
Afternoon, all! Stoke fans will have very fond memories of Tony Pulis's long reign as Potters boss, but they may not think of him so adoringly at around 5pm today.
Palace vs. Stoke is one of five 3pm Premier League kickoffs being brought to you live by Sports Mole on a packed footballing Saturday. Team news coming shortly...
PALACE: Speroni; Mariappa, Gabbidon, Delaney, Parr; Bolasie, Ward, Jedinak, Puncheon, Guedioura; Chamakh
SUBS: Price, Moxey, O'Keefe, Williams, Bannan, Wilbraham, Gayle
STOKE: Butland; Cameron, Shawcross, Wilson, Pieters; Whelan, Nzonzi; Adam, Walters, Assaidi, Crouch
SUBS: Sorensen, Muniesa, Shotton, Palacios, Ireland, Arnautovic, Guidetti
With Stoke loanee Cameron Jerome ineligible to face his parent club, Pulis resists the temptation to chuck in Dwight Gayle and instead reverts to a 4-5-1 formation, with Marouane Chamakh up front.
Adlene Guedioura starts for the first time since November after recovering from two broken ribs. The versatile Joel Ward may be asked to play alongside him in central midfield.
Yannick Bolasie passes a late fitness test on a groin problem to take his place on the left wing, while Jason Puncheon, who will be hoping to put his penalty nightmare from last week behind him, is maintained on the opposite flank.
Jonathan Williams signed a new long-term contract at Selhurst Park this week but is only included on the bench, as is Aaron Wilbraham, who has played just three times for Palace this term.
So Jerome misses out, but Stoke boss Mark Hughes has his own loan star, Oussama Assaidi, back available after he missed the 5-3 defeat to permanent employers Liverpool last week.
The Moroccan winger has been the Potters' standout performer in recent weeks and is immediately restored to the starting lineup at the expense of Marko Arnautovic in Stoke's only change.
Another Hughes loan recruit, John Guidetti, is named on the bench after joining on a short-term deal from Manchester City, as Peter Crouch continues to perform the lone striker role.
Stephen Ireland turned his temporary move to Staffordshire into a full-time switch this week and he is also among the visiting substitutes, but there is no place in the squad for Kenwyne Jones after the forward refused to play against Liverpool last Sunday, letting Hughes know this via text message.
A contingent of the travelling Stoke fans today will be donning the Pulis cap that famously donned the Britannia Stadium touchline for 10 years over two spells as manager, as a way of thanking the Welshman for his service. Let's remind you what he did for Stoke...
Upon his appointment in November 2002, Pulis masterminded City's escape from relegation to what is now League One in their first season in the equivalent of the Championship. He safely kept them in the second tier before a falling out with their Icelandic owners saw him sacked in June 2005.
His popular return a year later inspired Stoke to promotion to the Premier League for the first time, and his physical style of play and well-utilised long throw were big factors in the Potter staying in the top division initially, and he then took them to the next level.
Pulis then guided the Potters to the 2011 FA Cup final and in the process oversaw the historic 5-0 win over Bolton Wanderers in the last-four clash at Wembley. Manchester City were too much for them a few weeks later, but a 38-year wait for European football was ended courtesy of reaching the final.
They reached the last 32 of the Europa League, and at the end of the next season, after consolidating Stoke as a Premier League regular, Pulis stepped down and made way for Mark Hughes, who is trying to build on his Welsh compatriot's good work, albeit with a different playing style.
Around 10 minutes until kickoff now...
HEAD-TO-HEAD: This is the first campaign that both teams have played in the Premier League. Stoke won the reverse fixture 2-1 in August and have only lost once in seven meeting against the Eagles.
ONE TO WATCH: Charlie Adam has been linked with a move to Galatasaray in the last few days, which is a strange one, but it shows that he must be doing something right. He has scored a few crucial goals for the Potters this term and will be key to them breaking down a Palace defence which Pulis has much more organised than the one that was very leaky under Ian Holloway.
PREDICTION: I don't see there being many goals in this one. I fancy Pulis to serve Stoke fans a reminder of yesteryear and pinch the three points today. I'll plump for 1-0 Palace.
We are underway in London...
Chamakh is felled by N'Zonzi on the right byline and Palace have the chance to load some bodies into the box. Pulis's Stoke of course were so effective from set pieces. Puncheon is over it...
Stoke clear that free-kick and the corner that follows with relative comfort, but the visitors have been unable to get hold of the ball of yet. Palace with all of the early possession.
CHANCE! Lovely feet by Bolasie on the left and his step over fools Cameron and creates space for him to cross towards the penalty spot, where Ward arrives late to guide a header wide of the far post.
Palace are caught sleeping as Stoke take a quick short corner. Whelan has space to stand a cross up to the back post, where Crouch heads it across goal but Speroni gathers before Walters can pounce.
A lot has been made of Stoke's transition under Hughes into a passing team, but for much of the opening 10 minutes their attacking ventures have started with long punts forward to either Crouch or Walters. Nothing has come from them yet, though.
Parr makes a run in behind Cameron and Jedinak finds him with a through ball between the lines. The Norwegian crosses to the near post where Shawcross turns it behind for a corner.
Palace follow Stoke's example of taking a short corner, but make a bit of a mess of it. Eventually the ball comes out to Gabbidon, who feints to pass before advancing forward and blazing a 30-yard shot some distance over the crossbar.
SAVE! Stoke are awarded a free kick after Ward wrestles Crouch to the floor. Adam delivers the set piece, looking for the lanky striker, but instead it is Wilson, on his 100th Potters appearance, who climbs to win the header. He nods into the ground and towards the bottom corner, but Speroni dives across to tip around the post.
Chamakh calls for the physio but it doesn't seem to be anything serious and he quickly makes his way into the box to compete for a Puncheon free kick which is nodded behind for a corner, but again the Potters equip themselves well to clear consecutive Palace set pieces.
Cameron Jerome is watching from the stands today, and prior to kickoff the Palace striker, on loan from Stoke, told Sky Sports News that he is hoping for a draw this afternoon. That's the definition of sitting on the fence, but I'm not sure how Eagles fans will take that!
SHOT! Clever effort from Pieters, who runs onto a cross-field pass and, first-time, lobs it over the head of Ward and lets fly with a left-foot volley as the ball drops down. The shot swerves wide of the near post but had it been on target, it may have surprised Speroni as it was taken earlier than expected.
Again Stoke go long from the back and Crouch has the beating of Mariappa in the air. His knockdown is behind Adam and the Scot shoots right footed on the turn, but Delaney makes the block.
Bolasie has space to run into through the middle as Palace break. He overruns it and Wilson pinches it from him. The two duel again thirty second later and this time the Palace man knocks it past Wilson and he is forced to floor Bolasie with the most cynical of body checks.
UPDATE: No goals here as of yet and there are only three in the Premier League in total. Cardiff have pegged Man City back to 1-1 at the Etihad Stadium, while Newcastle lead 1-0 at West Ham.
It takes Stoke over half an hour to get Assaidi on the ball, but now that they have he looks as if he could trouble Mariappa. He runs at the Palace full-back from deep and wrong foots him before slipping in Adam on the inside, but Palace get bodies back to clear.
Nice buildup play as Chamakh runs into the right channel, holds the ball up and plays inside to Jedinak. He switches to Bolasie whose attempts to wriggle away from Cameron are unsuccessful and also timely, so the momentum of the Palace counter attack is completely lost.
Stoke look to Assaidi again and he checks inside to cross. Walters makes a dash to the near post, but Gabbidon just subtly leans on him and prevents him making contact with the header.
Pieters gets in behind and to the left byline before chipping a cross in towards Crouch, but yet again Gabbidon is on hand to protect his near post. Great defending, and Palace deal with another ball into the box, an excellent delivery from Adam, well moments later as pressure from Delaney means that Walters can only make tame contact with a header that dribbles through to Speroni.
It's a similar story as Assaidi twice crosses, largely unchallenged in-fact, into the six-yard box only to see his deliveries headed away from danger by Jedinak. Chances few and far between here.
We will have ONE minute of first-half stoppage time...
HALF TIME: PALACE 0-0 STOKE
That first-half threatened to get going on several occasions, but it never quite happened. Both sides are passing the ball fairly nicely but are finding it difficult to creates chances. There has been plenty of crosses that have been headed clear, with both goalkeepers fairly inactive.
Julian Speroni was called upon to make one good save when Wilson met Charlie Adam's free kick from deep, heading downwards towards the bottom corner, but the Palace stalwart dived low to his right to tip the effort around the post.
STATS: Stoke have edged possession with 56% compared to Palace's 44%. The hosts have yet to register a shot on target, which is demonstrative of their struggles in front of the net this season. Their tally of 13 league goals is the lowest in all of English football.
BENCH WATCH: Pulis could call upon Dwight Gayle to try and change that. The skilful Jonathan Williams and forgotten man Aaron Wilbraham, who has returned to the squad today, is another option on the home bench. Hughes has new signings John Guidetti and Stephen Ireland at his disposal as well as the enigmatic Marko Arnautovic, who is yet to show his best form since moving to the Premier League.
We are back underway at Selhurst Park...
CLOSE! And immediately a great chance for the visitors! They go route one again as Crouch nods down for Adam, who is more determined to get to the ball than Jedinak or Delaney. He pokes it through the Palace duo to move through on goal, only to then drag a shot with his weaker right foot a yard wide.
Chamakh collects the ball and turns on the edge of the box before drilling the ball into Puncheon's feet. The winger dinks a ball over the top for Delaney but the defender ducks underneath it for some reason and allows Stoke to clear. He must have thought that he was offside.
GOAL! PALACE 1-0 STOKE (JASON PUNCHEON)
Palace lead and that penalty horror is now firmly in Jason Puncheon's past! Mariappa and Bolasie link up down the right and the full-back charges into the box. The retreating Assaidi robs the ball from him, but then passes blind into the area and Puncheon is aware, picking up the loose ball, working it onto his left foot and patiently waiting for an opening to shoot into the bottom corner. Their first shot on target, and the Eagles are ahead!
Selhurst Park is rocking now, if it wasn't before! The home crowd have been typically noisy all afternoon but have increased the volume further since Puncheon's goal - his second since arriving on loan from Southampton. Poor travellers Stoke have it all to do now.
I don't know exactly what technique Puncheon uses to take his set pieces, but he needs to change it sharpish! Minutes after finding the net, his shanked corner is somewhat reminiscent of his awful spot kick from last week and the ironic cheers of both sets of fans remind him just that.
SUBSTITUTION: Hughes makes his first change and it is a positive one, swapping Glenn Whelan for Stephen Ireland. Adam may operate from a bit deeper now, with Ireland being Crouch's closest ally.
Puncheon does brilliantly with a mazy run on the right. He gets a couple of kind bounces of the ball before breaking towards the edge of the Stoke box, and despite having options left and right, he opts to go alone. Shawcross comes out from the back to jump in and make a good tackle.
SHOT! Great effort from Adam, who picks the ball up from a thrown-in 30 yards out and hits the sweetest of shots which has Speroni scrambling across goal, but is just the wrong side of the post.
Cameron hurls a throw into the box and Delaney wins the initial header. It falls to Ireland who tries a very instinctive volley from a tight angle. There is plenty of power behind it, but no accuracy and it flies high into the stands behind Speroni's goal.
SUBSTITUTION: Guedioura hasn't played much football of late and he may have picked up another muscle strain here. Or it may be cramp, but either way his afternoon's work is over. Stuart O'Keefe replaces him to make his first Premier League appearance in a month.
Palace continue to have more of the ball in areas from which they can hurt Stoke, and they threaten to do so when Mariappa lifts the ball into the area and Wilson heads away to Chamakh on the edge of the box. He prepares to shoot but Adam just pinches the ball from him.
SUBSTITUTION: Stoke are certainly in need of some more creativity, and Hughes is hoping that Arnautovic can add that spark off the bench. Assaidi, who has not been anywhere near as involved as he should have been, makes way with less than 20 minutes to go.
Again Palace get down the right wing and this time it is Ward who spins away from Adam and delivers towards the penalty spot. Puncheon and Wilson compete for it and land on the ball, which falls to Chamakh. He tries to prod through to Parr who was waiting at the back stick, but Shawcross intercepts.
SHOT! Adam pokes the ball through the legs of Jedinak and into the feet of Crouch, who has room to turn and bend a shot towards the far corner and it isn't far away at all. Good effort.
SUBSTITUTION: Hughes rolls the dice for the final time, introducing new boy John Guidetti in place of Jon Walters. The Swedish striker is highly thought of but hasn't played a football match since April 2012 due to a virus. The promising news for Stoke fans is that he scored in that match!
Patient buildup from the Potters but again they are devoid of ideas when they reach the edge of the penalty area. They shift the ball back to N'Zonzi who tries his luck from range and his rising shot under pressure from O'Keefe was never threatening the Palace goal.
BOOKING: Arnauotivc is shown the first yellow card of the afternoon for leaving his foot up on Mariappa. There was very little contact but his studs were raised and that's always dangerous.
Suddenly Stoke have moved through the gears and are beginning to establish some pressure in the Palace half. There are lots of bodies going forward now but as yet it's the same problem - the visitors cannot find one in a goalscoring position. They have around 10 minutes to do so.
SAVES! Incredible heroics from Butland who pulls off a magnificent triple save to keep Stoke in the game! Chamakh is released in the left channel and he plays inside to Puncheon, who shifts it onto Ward first time. The Palace man fires in a low shot which Butland dives to parry away, and he reacts brilliantly to foil close-range follow-up efforts from Puncheon and O'Keefe. Outstanding reflexes from the England man.
SUBSTITUTIONS: Pulis uses the remainder of his resources, introducing some fresh legs with a double change. Wilbraham and Moxey are on for Chamakh and Bolasie. What we have we keep, is the message from the Welshman.
There will be FOUR minutes of second-half stoppage time. Can Stoke grab an equaliser?
Adam delivers from deep but it is too strong and Speroni makes a simple catch unchallenged. The kitchen sink and more is being thrown into the area and the ball drops to Guidetti, whose volley takes a deflection and goes behind for a corner.
CHANCE! Palace have another chance to put this game to bed as Parr breaks down the left. His pull back is intended for Puncheon, but is behind the winger. It does, though, fall to Wilbraham, whose side-footed effort from 20 yards flies wide.
SAVE! Butland makes another outstanding save, charging off his line to thwart Puncheon who seemed destined to score a second when the ball broke for him at the back post. He then launches the ball forward as Stoke desperate seek a last-minute reply!
FULL TIME: PALACE 1-0 STOKE
What a manic last 10 minutes! In truth, though, Stoke left their assault on the Palace defence too late and it didn't yield them that one clear equalising chance that they were looking for. The hosts could have made it more comfortable had they netted a second on the break but Jack Butland pulled off three or four fantastic saves in the dying stages.
The result moves Palace off the bottom of the table and into a season-high 16th position, but a fifth successive game without victory has seen Stoke slide towards the relegation dogfight. A former Potters favourite has done the damage today as Pulis leaves Selhurst Park smiling.
That's it from me. Thanks for joining Sports Mole this afternoon and be sure to stay with us for coverage of this evening's Premier League match between Liverpool and Aston Villa. Until next time...
Written by
Joe Fish
Joe Fish
