Supersub Riedewald fires Crystal Palace past Stoke and into FA Cup last eight
Jaïro Riedewald was the unlikely supersub for Patrick Vieira after his goal eight minutes from time fired Crystal Palace to a hard-fought 2-1 win over Stoke and took them a step closer to Wembley.
Cheikhou Kouyaté had seen his early second-half effort for the home side cancelled out by Josh Tymon’s close-range finish to leave the FA Cup fifth-round tie finely poised.
Vieira, despite needing a winner, turned to Riedewald over two recognised strikers and saw the decision pay dividends with the former Ajax player scoring his first goal in 13 months in only his fifth appearance of the season to send Palace into the quarter-finals.
Vieira, who won the competition five times as a player, was not getting carried away, however. “It is a really exciting period and moment I would say but it is still one step before Wembley. We are pleased and happy to go to the next round but I was really disappointed with the way we played.
“We didn’t play well, we didn’t use the ball well enough or create enough chances and we didn’t defend well as a team. If we want to go further, we will have to play better.”
Palace had made five changes from the weekend Premier League draw with Burnley and Vieira went strong again but Eberechi Eze remained on the bench – even though he had started in the previous two rounds. Jordan Ayew was one of those brought into the starting XI and he embarked on a mazy run early on but it ended with Michael Olise’s scuffed shot hitting JeanPhilippe Mateta, who was offside.
Stoke had their first chance when Romaine Sawyers headed over Jordan Thompson’s cross after 21 minutes. The hosts started to up the ante after half an hour with Olise having a penalty appeal waved away after a coming together with Stoke’s Manchester City loanee Taylor Harwood-Bellis but it was not a sign of things to come, with Wilfried Zaha and Liam Moore clashing in the only other flashpoint of the half.
Chances started to become more frequent following the restart, with James Chester’s misjudgment in the air allowing Ayew to run through down the right but his centre was poor with Moore able to intercept before the opener did arrive with Palace’s first shot on target in the 53rd minute.
A short corner from Olise found Zaha, who picked out the unmarked Mateta inside the area and although his shot took a touch off Tommy Smith, Kouyaté was on hand to side-foot home from seven yards for his first goal since 2020.
The celebrations of the recent Africa Cup of Nations winner were short-lived as Stoke equalised five minutes later. Sawyers was able to beat Will Hughes and produced a wonderful cross with the outside of his boot that Tymon converted at the back post to level.
Michael O’Neill soon turned to his top scorer, Jacob Brown, and saw Thompson waste a fine chance on the half-volley before Vieira made a double substitution.
A smattering of boos greeted his decision to introduce the Palace captain, Luka Milivojevic, and Riedewald despite the presence of Eze, Christian Benteke and Odsonne Édouard on the bench. It would pay off, but only after Joachim Andersen headed Moore’s chip off the line with Jack Butland out of his goal.
The Dutchman made the decision pay off when he controlled Jack Bonham’s punch clear in the 82nd minute and rifled home with his right foot to score what proved to be the winner and end Stoke’s best FA Cup run for 10 years.
“It has been tough and really difficult. It is not easy for a player to not be in the group or squad but he has been a real professional,” Vieira said of Riedewald.
“He has always been keeping his head up, working hard and waiting for his chances. This is the kind of example I want from all the players.”
Stoke’s manager Michael O’Neill saw their best FA Cup run in 10 years end with a somewhat harsh loss and he bemoaned the decision to award a corner in the build-up to Kouyaté’s opener after referee Robert Jones deemed Ayew’s shot to have taken a deflection off James Chester.
He added: “I thought the result was harsh on us, the nature of the goals was harsh on us and the first goal is not a corner so the officials got that one wrong. It is ironic that VAR decides a lot of things but the basics of whether it is a goal kick or corner is left down to human error.
“Unfortunately in our eyes that was a human error. Clearly there was no contact with the shot with James Chester and we end up losing a goal as a result.”