Crystal Palace 2-1 Stoke City: Jairo Riedewald scores late winner
Crystal Palace 2-1 Stoke City: Jairo Riedewald scores late winner to send hosts through to FA Cup quarter-finals after Josh Tymon cancelled out Cheikhou Kouyate’s second-half strike
- Cheikhou Kouyate hammered home from close range in the 53rd minute
- Stoke defender Josh Tymon levelled with a low finish five minutes later
- Jairo Riedewald slotted in the winner eight minutes from time for Palace
A handful of Crystal Palace supporters began to make their way towards the concourses of Selhurst Park before this fifth-round tie had barely started.
As persistent rain fell over South London, a gutter burst and a small waterfall formed atop the Main Stand.
Unfortunately the floodgates held firm for rather longer. And so everyone here, including those who had raced for cover, had to sit through nearly another 50 minutes of stodgy – no, dreadful – FA Cup action.
Cheikhou Kouyate hammered home the opener from close range in the 53rd minute
CRYSTAL PALACE (4-3-3): Butland 6; Clyne 5, Andersen 6, Guehi 6, Adaramola 6 (Schlupp 65, 6.5); Hughes 5 (Milivojevic 78, 6), Kouyate 7 (Riedewald 78, 7); Olise 7.5, Ayew 5 (Gallagher 64, 7), Zaha 6.5, Mateta 7 (Benteke 90)
Subs not used:, Eze, Guaita, Edouard, Kelly,
Goals: Kouyate 53, Riedwald 82
Yellow: Schlupp, Gallagher
Manager: Patrick Vieira 6
Stoke (5-3-2): Bonham 6; Smith 6, Moore 6.5, Chester 6.5 (Fletcher 86, 6), Harwood-Bellis 6, Tymon 7; Thompson 6, Allen 7, Sawyers 7.5 (Vrancic 79, 6); Maja 6.5 (Brown 67, 6.5), Powell 6 (Campbell 86, 6)
Subs not used: Clucas, Bursik, Wilmot, Duhaney, Wright-Philipps
Goals: Tymon 58
Yellow: None
Mercifully, however, this game did catch fire. Eventually. In five frantic minutes after half-time, it swung one way and back again.
First Palace went in front through Cheikhou Kouyate before Championship visitors Stoke pegged them back through Josh Tymon’s low finish. That was how it stayed, despite a flurry of chances at both ends, until substitute Jairo Riedewald netted eight minutes from time to secure Palace a third quarter-final in six years.
So there was no fairytale for Stoke forward D’Margio Wright-Phillips, grandson of former Palace legend Ian Wright, who had to watch from the bench as his side’s Wembley dreams were dashed. At least he had cover overhead. There was, though, a first start for Palace left back Tayo Adaramola.
Murmurings about the 18-year-old have filtered up from the academy into the ears of Vieira, who put his faith in the Irish defender. You can’t imagine, however, that defender had dreamt of many 45 minutes as dull as this first half.
To think those Stoke supporters, huddled against the rain, flanked to their left by a vast bank of empty seats, arrived with little cause for cheer. No win in four matches, consecutive defeats in the Championship. It didn’t bode well for the visitors, did it?
Stoke defender Josh Tymon levelled with a low finish in the 58th minute on Tuesday night
Not in conditions like these. Not with Palace fielding a front four that included Michael Olise and Wilfried Zaha – while Eberechi Eze waited in the wings. Not certainly, after a couple of nervy moments in the game’s opening flurries. And yet, after weathering some early Palace pressure, Stoke gained a foothold. Before long, they arguably looked the more creative, threatening side. That’s not saying much, mind. Nothing, from either side, flowed like the water in the Selhurst Park drains.
Palace were particularly disjointed and lethargic. No wonder Vieira grew increasingly agitated as he ventured further into the mud outside his technical area.
It seemed a break from the gloom had arrived 10 minutes before half-time, when Olise drove towards the edge of the box and went tumbling as Taylor Harwood-Bellis dangled out a stray leg.
Substitute Jairo Riedewald slotted in the winner eight minutes from time for Crystal Palace
Riedewald scored his first goal in 13 months from only his fifth appearance of the season
Alas, referee Robert Jones – and his video assistant – said no. And replays suggested they were right. Harwood-Bellis had pulled his leg away; Olise had been felled by gravity alone. Soon Wilfried Zaha shared some handbags with Liam Moore. Beyond that? Very little to report. Can you blame those few Palace fans who booed at half-time? Or Vieira who, moments earlier, had greeted another backwards pass with a hop of despair?
The action could only improve. Thankfully it did – and fast. Inside five minutes of the second half, both sides had squandered half-openings. Inside 15 minutes, both had scored.
Crystal Palace forward Jean-Philippe Mateta tangles with James Chester of Stoke City
Palace’s opener came from a short corner – Olise found Zaha, who played a low ball into Jean-Philippe Mateta. His shot was deflected into the path of Kouyate who netted his first Palace goal since September 2020.
That roused Selhurst Park but Stoke responded brilliantly, Tymon finishing at the back post from Romaine Sawyers’ low cross.
From there, both sides had chances to win it. For Stoke, Jordan Thompson fired over before Moore’s delicious chip was headed off the line by Joachim Andersen. At the other end, Will Hughes fired wide before another short corner was not dealt with and Riedewald chested the ball and fired home.
Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha (left) takes on Stoke City’s Taylor Harwood-Bellis
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