- Allen nets sixth of season
- Palace still in drop zone
- Stoke in top half
Joe Allen heaped misery on Sam Allardyce and Crystal Palace, as Stoke City handed the reeling Eagles a 1-0 loss at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday.
Stoke is ninth with 32 points, while Palace is 19th with 19 points. The Eagles are two points shy of safety.
[ MORE: Watch full PL match replays ]
Peter Crouch flicked a ball to Marko Arnautovic for early danger, but Wayne Hennessey made a nice save on the Austrian attacker.
There wasn’t much to like in the first half for Palace, but Christian Benteke and Andros Townsend helped inject threatening moments into the early stages of the second half.
Stoke finally broke through courtesy of Allen, the Welshman hooking home after Ramadan Sobhi did a masterful job of holding up Arnautovic’s terrific cross.
James Tomkins mishit a scoring chance in a bad way in the 72nd minute, belting a ball wide off the side of his shin.
[ MORE: Latest Premier League standings ]
6 - Joe Allen has netted six PL goals this season, his best-ever haul in a top-flight campaign (next highest is 4 in 2011/12). Potted.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 11, 2017
[ MORE: Full lineups, stats, box score ]