STAT ATTACK
THE star nicknamed the Alpine Messi summed up the whole feeling of dejection inside the bet365 Stadium as relegation smacked every Stoke-ite flush in the face.
Switzerland international Xherdan Shaqiri stood all alone in his field of nightmares at the final whistle, head almost buried in his chest and a tear in the eye.
His Premier League dream had gone downhill fast after goals from Crystal Palace’s James McArthur and Patrick van Aanholt confirmed what the Stoke fans had dreaded when they woke up yesterday morning.
Down and very much out of the big time after 10 years in the top flight.
The raw emotion at the end was palpable with Palace boss Roy Hodgson caught up in it himself. He pumped the air in celebration and then turned to see his approaching rival Paul Lambert before hastily offering his apologies.
No words could comfort the men from the Potteries. To say Stoke had been up for it was a vast understatement on a day when every red-and-white striped player, every fan gave their all for the cause of survival.
Tom Jones and Delilah was pumped up to full volume to send the stadium into a frenzy before a ball was kicked.
What followed was not pretty but then it never is when you’re fighting for your Premier League lives and nothing else matters other than desperately attempting to grab three valuable points towards staying up.
Stoke, watched by goalkeeping legend Gordon Banks, gave everything demanded by Lambert and the faithful.
Chased lost causes. Demonstrated time and time again that they were definitely up for this all-defining scrap – sadly at the end to no avail.
Palace looked uncomfortable with all that in-your-face aggression and time-wasting over throw-ins and other set-pieces brought howls of derision in the early stages.
Yet, when they did get back into their footballing philosophy they looked pretty threatening and in Ruben LoftusCheek possessed a loan star of undoubted class.
The Chelsea product showed that after eight minutes when he embarked on a clever run and ended that piece of magic with a curling shot a fraction wide of the upright.
Once more, though, Palace sunk back into their spoiling tactics when you knew that if they had kept the pressure on Stoke might have crumbled.
As it was, Shaqiri flashed his first warning sign with a lovely ball into Mame Biram Diouf who had more time than he imagined and glanced a header wide of the target in the 23rd minute.
The missed chance gave Stoke hope. And two minutes before the break, Shaqiri made the breakthrough to bring the full house down.
Loftus-Cheek gave away a free-kick just outside the area. Shaqiri measured his kick, let fly with his trusty left boot and his curling shot glanced off the England star’s head and into the top corner.
Shaqiri streaked away in euphoric celebration, mobbed by his wildly celebrating team-mates. Game on. Survival on. Or so they thought.
But then the Potters fans held their breath on the restart as dangerman Loftus-Cheek ran clear in the box only for Erik Pieters to brilliantly intercept to ease racing pulses.
It was total despair, though, when Palace finally broke down the stubborn Stoke resistance for an equaliser which left the supporters slumped in their seats.
Palace attacked in numbers and when Loftus-Cheek joined in a fast-flowing move midway through the second half, he slid the ball to his left and McArthur tucked the equaliser beyond the outstretched leg of goalkeeper Jack Butland.
And the Eagles should have taken the lead in the 77th minute when Andros Townsend put Wilfried Zaha clean through only for him man to blaze high over the bar.
Oh, how the whole of the Potteries prayed for that winning goal only for their heartfelt pleas to go unanswered in a last cruel twist of fate.
Zaha darted in from the right in the 86th minute and luckless captain Ryan Shawcross agonisingly diverted the ball into Van Aanholt’s path.
The Dutchman did not look that gift horse in the mouth with a clinical, deadly finish. PALACE have now won seven of the sides’ 10 PL meetings – their best against any team in the top flight. Paul Lambert has won only one of his seven league matches as a manager against Palace.