November 26 2017

Ruben Loftus-Cheek

Crystal Palace's second league win of the season came against Stoke City. Mike Scott gives his verdict on the Palace players.

Both Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mamadou Sakho scored their debut Eagles goals in a game where, for long periods, the home side played well below par. A stubborn Stoke display meant that Palace were frustrated and not able to get behind the back four too often.

After the game, Andros Townsend summed up the game perfectly by tweeting: "When you play very well as a team for 5 games in a row and not get much in terms of points to show for it.... then play poorly and get 3 points"

Wayne Hennessey - 6

Manager Roy Hodgson seemingly felt that the mistake from Julian Speroni against Everton was enough to reinstate Hennessey between the sticks, which sparked Twitter outrage before the game. However, the Holmesdale cheered the Welshman regardless as he came out from the tunnel and he had a decent enough game. Was powerless to get anywhere near the ball for Stoke’s goal; before that, he was only tested once when he made himself big for a shot in the first half that he saved well. A couple of scary moments before Sakho’s winner aside, he looked more assured than before he was dropped.

Joel Ward - 6

Ward had a much tougher test of his resolve from the Stoke frontline that he did recently against West Ham or Everton, with Ramadan Sobhi and Xherdan Shaqiri targeting his flank for much of the game. He did well, preventing crosses several times even when they did turn him and get behind him initially. Was the outlet for some attacks when Loftus-Cheek found himself surrounded, knocking in a couple of menacing crosses.

James Tomkins - 8

The replacement of Dann for Tomkins paid off, with the ex-West Ham man putting in an assured display and looking as solid as he ever has in a Palace shirt. Protecting Hennessey plenty, he was the outlet for build-ups, while blocking several crosses and keeping Stoke from passing through the defence on multiple occasions. It took a moment of solo magic from Shaqiri for the visitors to make any meaningful impact and they didn’t create much after. Tomkins should take major credit for that.

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Mamadou Sakho - 6

The Frenchman won Palace three absolutely priceless points by being in the right place in the box in injury time, but before that he had a mixed game. Off the ball, he was solid and he and Tomkins dealt with almost everything thrown at them. On the ball, he was assured three quarters of the time, but did manage to provide some very wayward passes throughout the game, one or two of which did have the Selhurst faithful worried.

Jeffrey Schlupp - 6

Like Sakho, Schlupp did play some very sloppy passes out and Palace were lucky to not be punished for their errors, mainly due to Stoke’s relatively toothless attack. The questions over his positional sense seem to have been partially answered though; the visitors barely got behind Schlupp throughout the game. He did some serious miles in the game too, linking up with Townsend for several counter attacks.

Luka Milivojevic - 5

The Serbian had a really off-day. He seemed to play as many misplaced passes in 90 minutes as he has done in total for Palace since joining. As ever, he was immovable in defence though, which helped frustrate Stoke’s slow build-up, passing tactics. But he made life much more difficult for the home side by presenting the visitors with the ball far, far too often.

Yohan Cabaye - 7

Everything that Palace created - and that wasn’t as much they have been creating recently - went through Cabaye. It was his cross-shot that was parried out to Sakho for the winner; every set-piece he knocked in caused problems. With Zaha and Townsend quiet for huge parts of the game, it was up to Cabaye to distribute the balls that caused Stoke trouble. Without him, Palace would not have got three points.

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Ruben Loftus-Cheek - 6

Like a few of his teammates, Loftus-Cheek made plenty of errors, with some wayward passes. But between those mistakes, he caused Stoke problems. In the first half, he was really the only player who got behind the defence to make some crosses (although the final ball was lacking). In the second, he got Palace back in the game with the equaliser and towards the end of the game was involved down the right with most of Palace’s creative play.

James McArthur - 6

The Scotsman put in all the endeavour and leg work you’d expect in a half where, for the most part, the sides cancelled each other out. He helped Milivojevic out in front of defence well and did link up at times well with Schlupp for a couple of promising counter attacks. He was subbed at half-time for Christian Benteke (5), who still looks well short of match sharpness. Was strong in the air (he started the move for the leveller with a knock down) and did help out defending set pieces, but he was rarely an outlet for crosses and through balls. Had one effort hit the side netting, but not a great deal else.

Andros Townsend - 7

Stoke did their best to keep Palace’s dangermen quiet and Townsend had very limited joy for the vast majority of the game. He did manage to get the cross in that saw Palace draw level and, generally, did what he could with the scraps he was fed. He also put in a decent shift with getting back to help out the defence. As a result, as ever, he looked like he ran a marathon during the game.

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Wilfried Zaha - 6

The stalemate of the first half was mainly a result of the fact that Stoke did really well in neutralising Zaha’s threat. Doubling up on him, he looked incredibly frustrated for long periods and lost the ball a couple of times quite uncharacteristically. His trademark runs passed people were few and far between. He did produce a few moments of magic, not least the ball in injury time that fell to Cabaye for the winning move. Not so much an off day, as a quiet one.