WILFRIED ZAHA, dubbed the vainest man in football because of having his hair cut daily, made short, back and sides of Stoke.
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| Wilfried Zaha scoring the only goal as Palace condemned Stoke to second cup exit this week |
The winger scored the decider in the 19th minute when he latched onto a pass from Yohan Cabaye to rifle home just when Stoke seemed to have the upper hand.
Palace manager Alan Pardew said: "This side is certainly better than when I got there with West Ham 10 years ago and we also have players like Wilf Zaha.
Palace started with Fraizer Campbell as main striker, with new arrival Emmanuel Adebayor not even making the subs bench.
The home side found it hard to get the ball away in the opening skirmishes, with Stephen Ireland orchestrating most of Stoke's moves.
However, this was Stoke's second cup defeat in a week and you wonder if they paid the price for not taking the game seriously enough, with manager Mark Hughes dropping several regulars to the bench.
In contrast, Palace sent out a full-strength side with enough experience to combat Stoke's aggression and breaking with menace.
Stoke might not have fielded their strongest side, but they were not short on strong-arm tactics, with Marc Wilson booked for a ferocious 30th-minute tackle on Campbell that had Pardew gesticulating in anger.
A few others were X-rated and led to many protests from Palace players to referee Mark Clattenburg.
"The referee got several decisions wrong but I won't criticise him because it was a hard-fought match," said Pardew.
Hughes said: "We did well and went for it but at the same time played in Palace's hands because they are good on the counter attack, particularly Zaha."
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