Premier League: Crystal Palace 1 Stoke 1

Neil Warnock's men arguably edged proceedings at Selhurst Park, but a lack of cutting edge in the final third meant a below-par Stoke were seldom troubled.

Yannick Bolasie has been in tremendous form of late and the winger was once more Palace's primary attacking threat, the winger providing the assist for James McArthur to head home the opener after 11 minutes.

Stoke - who were aiming to build on last weekend's excellent 3-2 win over Arsenal - were level by the 13th minute, though, when the ball fell kindly for Peter Crouch to score from close-range.

McArthur was then denied in each half by Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic as Palace failed to find a winner.

The draw leaves Palace a point above the relegation zone, while Mark Hughes' Stoke - who have still yet to record back-to-back league wins this term - climb above Everton and Aston Villa into 11th.

The hosts moved ahead from the first clear-cut opportunity of the match.

Bolasie beat Phil Bardsley with quick feet and delivered a perfectly weighted cross from the left, which McArthur met with a looping header to claim his first Palace goal.

However, the lead lasted for just two minutes as Stoke found a quick reply.

The in-form Bojan Krkic glided past Scott Dann on the right before cutting back a pass from the byline to Jonathan Walters, whose deflected shot fell fortuitously for Crouch to tap home at the back post.

Despite that setback Palace remained the more threatening side, with Bolasie a constant danger down the left.

The winger played one particularly intricate throughball that once again picked out McArthur and Stoke goalkeeper Begovic had to react quickly to keep out his close-range shot.

On the other flank Wilfried Zaha saw tentative penalty claims waved away by referee Kevin Friend in the 35th minute when his cross hit Erik Pieters on the arm in the penalty area.

Stoke were struggling in Palace's final third and their hopes took a further blow when Bojan was replaced by Marko Arnautovic in the 55th minute - seemingly as a precaution against injury.

Begovic subsequently produced an excellent save low to his right, palming away McArthur's drilled effort from 20 yards.

The second half became something of a war of attrition with both defences on top, although Stoke did briefly threaten with a flurry of corners.

Palace were forced into a reshuffle in the 76th minute when Marouane Chamakh exited play with an apparent hamstring injury and was replaced by Dwight Gayle.

As the clock wound down Crouch had a half-chance to steal the points for Stoke after Mame Biram Diouf had nodded down a long throw-in, but his half-volley was easily collected by Julian Speroni in the Palace goal.

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