John McCormick writes: I do believe Stoke’s goal should have been disallowed after Crouch climbed all over Kaboul. I’m not so sure we deserved a penalty, so maybe things evened up. Whatever, a point away at Stoke is never a bad result and to get one when we weren’t as good as we have been makes it more even more sweet. Here’s Sam’s post-match letter, telling us what he thinks about the result.
Dear Colin,
Jermain’s goal has got us a very precious point.
It was a lovely piece of skill from him. I don’t think anyone can argue that it wasn’t a blatant penalty that stopped him getting through on goal.We have some very big games coming up.
We were in the position where we had to change the shape of the team because we weren’t playing as well as we can do.
In the end we got a little better in possession, got at Stoke and got ourselves a draw.
It wasn’t our best performance by a long way, but in the end we’ve got a precious point.
Defensively we have been very resilient. In possession we weren’t as good as we have been and hopefully we will be better against Chelsea.
There’s no comeback for the opposition when you score in the 93rd minute. When you get that goal that gets you a point you have to be satisfied.
Thanks for your support,
Sam Allardyce
What on earth was Cabaye doing taking a pen. Damned if he scores, damned if he doesn’t.
Can’t understand why Puncheon didn’t take it. Superb with dead balls. Was he still on the pitch?
Subbed off (along with Wickham) a couple of mins later. Cabaye got lowest rating of all. Always going to be a strange game for him, should have stayed at home.
Our future could depend on the outcome of two penalties. One which we scored and another that Palace missed. But which one will be critical?