Crystal Palace made it two wins in two after beating Stoke City 4-1.
Crystal Palace completed back-to-back Premier League victories, beating bottom of the league Stoke City 4-1 this weekend.
Steve Mandanda 7/10 – A quiet afternoon for Mandanda, who was never really forced into action by a Stoke side that never threatened going forward.
Joel Ward 7.5/10 – Ward did well to handle Marco Arnautovic during the first half, and the Austrian never really got the chance to get at the full back in the final 45. A solid performance.
James Tomkins 7/10 – Having arrived from West Ham for £10 million, Tomkins’ Palace debut got off to the perfect start when he kicked off the scoring for Alan Pardew’s side. His afternoon was ended prematurely when injury forced him off at half time.
Scott Dann 8/10 – The Palace skipper got his third goal of the season and put his side 2-0 up early on. Dann was assured at the back, keeping Wilfired Bony quiet all afternoon.
Martin Kelly 7/10 – A trouble-free match for Kelly, who kept Jonathon Walters out of the game. The former Liverpool man worked well with Andros Townsend when called upon.
James McArthur 9/10 – One of the contenders for man of the match. McArthur was sensational in the middle, constantly breaking up play, getting in Stoke faces and moving the ball well. The Scot capped off his performance with Palace’s third goal, albeit via a huge deflection.
Joe Ledley 7.5/10 – A tidy performance from the Welshman, who worked well alongside McArthur. Despite a decent showing, Ledley’s place could be up for grabs when Yohan Cabaye returns from injury.
Wilfred Zaha 8/10 – After a scintillating appearance against Middlesbrough last week, Zaha was yet again a constant threat going forward. Despite not getting on the scoresheet like he did last week, the winger caused problems all afternoon for Bruno Martins Indi.
Jason Puncheon 7.5/10 – Puncheon linked the play brilliantly and used the ball intelligently. Quiet in the final third, but his good work allowed Zaha and Townsend to flourish.
Andros Townsend 9/10 – The former Newcastle man probably edged McArthur for the man of the match award. A threat all afternoon, Stoke just could not deal with Townsend. Palace’s number 10 capped off a brilliant performance with an incredible strike into the bottom right corner.
Christian Benteke 6.5/10 – Benteke’s performance was one of few blemishes on Palace’s afternoon. The Belgian didn’t really get a sniff of goal, and was a little preoccupied doing fancy flicks which didn’t come off as much as they should have.
SUBSTITUTES
Damien Delaney (Tomkins 45) 7/10 – Delaney replaced Tomkins at half time and looked steady at the back, putting in a huge last ditch challenge on Arnautovic early in the second half.
Mathieu Flamini (Ledley 78) 6/10 – Flamini’s slack pass nearly gifted Bony a goal, but other than that he had little impact.
Chung-Yong Lee (Townsend 85) N/A – The attacker did not have enough time to make any impact.
Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew
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