Stoke City gave a maiden outing to their exciting new striker Saido Berahino but centre stage belonged to distinguished veterans, as Peter Crouch struck a landmark goal before Everton equalised via an unfortunate deflection off Ryan Shawcross.
It was an unsatisfying result for the hosts but there was much to admire from Mark Hughes’s men, not least Crouch’s goal after seven minutes, which brought up a Premier League century for the former England striker. The previous goal scored on this ground had been Wayne Rooney’s record-breaking one for Manchester United in the 1-1 draw 11 days ago and, while this one may not be acclaimed as widely, Crouch’s achievement deserves high praise.
It was certainly greeted with a jubilant roar by the locals here and the player added to the merriment by trotting out his old robot dance routine, gratifying a social media clamour for him to do exactly that on joining the 100 goals club. His first one was 15 years ago, when he launched a fine career by scoring for Queens Park Rangers against Aston Villa. To be still a crowd pleaser at 36 is good going by anyone’s standard.
“It’s a great story and a great moment for everybody who was here to witness it,” said Hughes. “It was a special moment for him in his career. He’s in a select group of players who’s had a real impact at Premier League level and no one can take that from him.”
Crouch’s hopes of reaching the milestone looked remote a couple of months ago as his career seemed to be petering out on the fringes of the Stoke squad. But after being cast back into the team a month ago he has discovered a hot streak and this was his fourth goal in his last six games. “He probably thought it had passed him by but he stuck at it and waited for his opportunity,” said an approving Hughes.
It was a fine team goal, too. Charlie Adam began the move by pinging a long ball over the visiting defence and into the path of Marko Arnautovic on the left wing. The Austrian sent a low cross to Crouch, who slotted into the net from close range. It was a smooth finish but Crouch joked that his robotic celebration suffered from rustiness: “I think I’ll have to retire it. Weddings and parties only now.”
A more pertinent quibble could be raised against Stoke’s finishing after that. They created several more chances and could have been decisively in front by half-time. Crouch could have made a start on his second century but spurned two decent chances. Joel Robles saved his header in the 23rd minute after a cross by Adam. And three minutes later a flick by Arnautovic presented Crouch with another opportunity but he lashed a low volley inches wide from the edge of the box.
Adam, too, was playing as if still in his prime. On the half-hour the 31-year-old dribbled past three flimsy challenges and dinked the ball to Arnautovic, who was on his own at the other side of the box. Robles, more alert than any defender, charged out to block the ensuing shot.
Everton, for whom Morgan Schneiderlin made his first start, barely threatened until the 39th minute, when they drew level thanks to a lucky break. Kevin Mirallas picked out Seamus Coleman on the right-hand side of the box and the Irishman tried to curl a shot into the net. That is where it ended up but only because Shawcross inadvertently helped it on its way, a fact that was made clear to all the officials only after consultation between the referee, Craig Pawson, and his assistant. The goal had initially been ruled out, seemingly because one of the officials thought the offside Romelu Lukaku had applied the telling touch.
Despite being level at half-time Ronald Koeman was aghast at how frequently Stoke had penetrated his five-man defence, especially down the flanks. He switched to a 4-4-2 formation for the second half. That made his team more solid and, what is more, they were first to threaten thereafter, albeit via a long-range shot by Ross Barkley that Grant saved comfortably. Adam then tried one from even further out but Robles foiled his attempt to reprise the famous goal he scored from the halfway line against Chelsea two years ago.
Seeking an edge Hughes turned to Berahino in the 67th minute. The £12m recruit from West Bromwich Albion nearly made the perfect debut by lobbing Robles toward the end but Funes Mori headed off the line. Tom Davies then tried to land a late suckerpunch but Grant tipped away his header with one hand. “Overall it was a fair result,” said Koeman. “If you can’t win, don’t lose.”
