SPARKY, THE LAWN MOANER MAN, CUTS UP ROUGH
Crouch makes it 51 Prem goals with his bonce to end Baggies’ 100 per cent start to the season
WEST BROM 1 STOKE 1
MARK HUGHES and Tony Pulis resumed their war of words, clashing over the length of the grass on the Hawthorns pitch.
Hughes (right) and Potters predecessor Pulis had a bust-up over Saido Berahino
WEST BROMWICH 1 Rodriguez 61 STOKE CITY 1 Crouch 77 BY PETER CROUCH wheeled away beaming after scoring what Stoke manager Mark Hughes described as his easiest header ever.
It was a total gift into an unguarded net for sub Crouch’s 51st headed Premier League goal – out of 104 strikes.
West Brom will have to do exceedingly badly to concede a worse goal this term.
The defensive howler by Ahmed Hegazi was a ridiculous way for Albion to concede their first goal of the season and end their 100 per cent record.
With seven points banked, the Baggies can still reflect on a successful start. Yet, they would be level with Manchester United at the top of the table were it not for Hegazi’s disastrous attempted clearance in the 77th minute.
The Egypt star’s blooper, swinging and missing when keeper Ben Foster was set for a routine gather, handed 6ft 7in veteran Crouch, 36, his first Premier League goal this term.
It was one that Hughes’ new-look Potters side rarely looked like earning as they toiled in the heat at the Hawthorns.
Jay Rodriguez’s 61st-minute headed opener – which sparked Crouch’s introduction – looked like settling the match. But there was still time for Crouch, signed by Tony Pulis when in charge at Stoke in 2011, to leave his old boss spluttering.
Hughes, a former striker himself, said: “That’s probably the easiest headed goal that Crouchie has ever scored.”
Pulis rued: “They bring Crouchie on and just his presence unnerves defenders.
“That is what Peter has done again, he has come on and without doing a lot just unnerves people. We are disappointed, I didn’t see them scoring.
“As soon as we scored, I thought that we would win the game.”
Foster tipped over a deflected shot from Stoke’s Kurt Zouma in the 24th minute, but otherwise had little to do. Albion improved
after the break as £12million summer signing Rodriguez saw more of the ball.
He showed plenty of skill and graft on his third top-flight start this term for the Baggies out wide behind Salomon Rondon. Both of those qualities were evident as Rodriguez stormed between defenders Geoff Cameron and Zouma to convert Allan Nyom’s cross at the back post.
Pulis added: “Jay does a hell of a lot of good work because he stretches teams as he wants to run in behind. But his greatest asset, whether you play him on the left or the right, is he gets inside that back post.
“We think he is going to score hopefully 10 to 15 goals.”
Stoke, despite their win over Arsenal, looked very much a work in progress adjusting to a new 3-4-2-1 formation.
But striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting caught the eye with his close control and skills.
Albion might have gone further ahead, however, when Hegazi headed over and Rodriguez nodded on to the bar.
But Crouch’s late intervention ensured the Potters successfully clinched a point to leave Hegazi holding his own head in his hands.