Stoke City relegated from Premier League after losing to Crystal Palace

Stoke City have been relegated after 10 years in the Premier League after losing 2-1 against Crystal Palace.

Xherdan Shaqiri’s superb free-kick on the verge of halftime was cancelled out by James McArthur’s second-half leveller and Patrick van Aanholt scored with just four minutes remaining to send Stoke down.

After a scrappy start to the game, Ruben Loftus-Cheek had the first shot but directed the ball past the top right corner of Jack Butland’s net.

It was a while until the game’s next chance too. This time, Joe Allen found Shaqiri on the right wing, whose cross was headed wide by Mame Biram Diouf.

Yohan Cabaye fired over at the other end with neither team having a shot on target in the opening 40 minutes.

That all changed when Shaqiri won a free kick on the edge of the area though. He stepped up himself and curled the ball beautifully into the top right corner.

Palace stretched Stoke’s defence in the second half, with Andros Townsend and Wilfried Zaha causing all sorts of problems.

After a series of strong challenges, tensions came to a head in the 65th minute when James Tomkins and Glen Johnson saw yellow after a scuffle.

Just moments later, superb work by Loftus-Cheek put McArthur in on the left to roll the ball past Butland into the far corner.

Stoke had to find a goal from somewhere to maintain a realistic hope of avoiding relegation, and Shaqiri nearly got it with 14 minutes to spare. He was put through on goal but the offside flag was up quickly.

Palace went straight up the other end, but Zaha shot over. Christian Benteke then failed to control a cross.

Palace continued to open up the Stoke defence in the closing stage, and Loftus-Cheek fired over from nine yards after combining with Townsend and Zaha.

Stoke won their first corner with five minutes remaining, but Shaqiri’s cross was easily cleared.

Palace broke, and the ball fell kindly to Van Aanholt to slot the ball under Butland to send Stoke into the Championship.

The result means Palace have mathematically secured safety. For Stoke, attention now turns towards manager Paul Lambert, and whether he will be given the chance to lead Stoke in the Championship next season.

Cover Photo: Britannia Stadium by John Lord used under license by CC BY 2.0.