HERO JAIRO
Crystal Palace 2 Stoke 1: Kouyate and Riedewald fire Eagles into quarters as boss Vieira dreams of sixth FA Cup crown
JAIRO RIEDEWALD fired Crystak Palace’s fifth-round winner to leave boss Patrick Vieira thinking about the joy of six.
The Dutchman had not featured for Eagles since making an appearance as an 88th-minute sub in the 2-1 third-round win at Millwall.
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But he was their hero after coming off the bench to break Stoke hearts with an 82nd minute strike.
He had only been on the pitch for four minutes after coming on to replace Cheikhou Kouyate, whose second half opener had been cancelled out by Josh Tymon as Stoke threatened to cause an upset.
But it was Palace who went through to the last eight to the delight of manager Vieira, who will now be eyeing lifting the trophy for a sixth time after winning it five times as a player.
Those were in the days when the fifth round used to mean something.
Romance, unlike rain, was in short supply at Selhurst Park last night.
With the whole of one side of the stadium empty apart from the 1,000 or so hardy souls who had trekked down from the Potteries, this felt more like a Championship game.
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It made the decision to stage a pre-match lightshow - which was as thrilling as your fluorescent bulb going on the blink in your kitchen - all the more strange.
The action itself was far from electric.
The only thing free-flowing was the roof guttering on the main stand which leaked rain onto the poor home fans sitting next to Vieira’s dugout.
It took 36 minutes for a steward to supply sodden supporters with plastic macs - the only decent delivery of a dismal first half.
With Michael Olise’s laughable attempt to con a penalty out of the officials by diving in the box in the vicinity of Stoke defender Tyler Harwood-Bellis - who pulled his foot out of the tackle - the only other incident of note before the break.
You wondered if VAR David Coote only reviewed the decision to relieve the monotony.
Palace keeper Jack Butland warmed his hands for the first time after the interval as he applauded the travelling fans of the club he played for before joining the Eagles in October 2020.
His current club restarted with more intent - although they could hardly have had less - with Jordan Ayew getting in behind the Potters defence only for his poor cross to be turned behind by Stoke defender Liam Moore.
But it was another corner which led to Palace breaking the deadlock in the 53rd minute when Wilfried Zaha collected Olise’s short kick and played the ball across the box where Jean-Philippe Mateta’s shot deflected off Tommy Smith into the path of Kouyate who smashed the ball into the roof of the net.
It was the Senegal midfielder’s first Palace goal of the season following his recent return from helping his country lift the African Cup of Nations.
But the lead lasted just five minutes as Tymon beat his marker Nathaniel Clyne to lash home Romaine Sawyers’ cross for Stoke’s equaliser.
Vieira sent on Conor Gallagher and Jeff Schlupp for teen debutant left-back Tayo Adaramola and Ayew and the pair combined to almost set up a goal for Will Hughes, whose shot just curled away from the far post.
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But just after Stoke captain Moore had seen a chip headed off the line by Joachim Andersen after Butland had flapped at a free kick, it was another Eagles sub Riedewald who hit the winner.
After Potters keeper Jack Bonham punched away a Gallagher centre following a short corner, Riedewald kept his cool as he chested the ball down before slotting home.
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