Stoke City striker Peter Crouch has scored a goal at the wrong end to give visiting Everton a half-time lead at the Britannia.
The home side started the brighter and looked to utilise Rory Delap's trademark long throw on numerous occasions to create a goalscoring opportunity.
Matthew Etherington almost profited from a Delap throw when Sylvain Distin headed straight to the Stoke winger, who blazed his volley over Tim Howard's crossbar.
In-form Everton forward Nikica Jelavic, who was looking to become the first man in the Premier League era to score two or more goals in four consecutive games, failed to really get a look-in during the opening 45.
The Toffees ended the half well and went ahead just before the whistle when Tony Hibbert swung over a cross that Marc Wilson could only head into the back of Crouch before the ball fell into the net.
A win for Tony Pulis's Stoke would see them climb three places to 11th in the table.
Pascal Lemesre
