SO EASY FOR CROUCH
Peter’s equaliser is nod a problem
EVEN Stoke boss Mark Hughes admitted he was getting fed up watching this game.
He was happy enough snatching a point from old foe Tony Pulis as substitute Peter Crouch scored with a trademark late header.
But it was dour stuff and heaven knows what the impartial TV audience felt, knowing this was on offer rather than Chelsea versus Everton.
Hughes said: “It wasn’t a great game. I didn’t enjoy it myself. It was frustrating to say the least.
“But Crouchie ends up getting probably the easiest headed goal he will ever score and we probably got what we deserved.”
Baggies boss Pulis acknowledged Crouch’s contribution, saying: “That’s what he does – his sheer presence unnerves defenders.”
It was handshakes all round as Hughes and Pulis put their old arguments aside, though the Potters boss suggested the grass might have been left a little long.
Veteran former England striker Crouch cashed in on a West Brom cock-up to send Stoke home with a hard-earned point.
And if the big man plays on until he’s a hundred, it’s doubtful he will get an easier one than his 77th-minute effort.
Crouch became the only player to score 50 Premier League goals with his head in the final game of last season against Southampton.
He helped himself to No.51 to stop the Baggies marching to level on points with league leaders Manchester United courtesy of a third 1-0 win.
Scary
The home side were leading through Jay Rodriguez’s goal and looked like they weren’t going to get broken down.
At that point, Baggies keeper Ben Foster’s only scary moment had come when he had to react brilliantly to tip the ball over from under his crossbar after a Kurt Zouma shot had taken a wicked deflection off Gareth Barry.
Rodriguez pounced in the 61st minute, stooping to guide a header home after great work by Allan Nyom on the right.
That might have been good enough but Crouch had other ideas after coming off the bench minutes after Stoke fell behind.
West Brom had looked typically solid until it all unravelled for them when they presented Crouch with the sort of chance his granny would have scored.
Sobhi Ramadan clipped a hopeful ball into the penalty area and Foster must have made a decisive call to claim it.
But Ahmed Hegazi either wasn’t listening or ignored it and decided to take a swipe at it himself.
He made only the slightest connection but it was enough to take it away from Foster who was left thumping the ground in anger as Crouch stooped and steered it in from six yards.
Crouch said: “It wasn’t one of my finest goals but I’ll take those all day long. Getting a point here means we’ve made a decent start.”
Pulis dismissed suggestions that the grass was too long and poured scorn on the chants from Stoke supporters of, “Tony Pulis, your football is s***”.
The Welshman steered Stoke back to the big time in 2008 and said: “There’s one man in the stand, the owner Peter Coates, who is happy with what I did in my time there.”