Crystal Palace 4, Stoke City 1: Eagles boss Alan Pardew insists victory vindicates his summer changes
Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew insists his side's hammering of winless Stoke City is a vindication of the tactical and personnel changes he implemented during the summer.
The Eagles have now won-back-to-back matches for the first time this year as strikes from James Tomkins, Scott Dann, James McArthur and Andros Townsend consigned Stoke, who replied late on through Marko Arnautovic, to defeat.
“This team has changed drastically in the summer, we knew we had to do that,” said Pardew. “It’s difficult to change a team and change the style a bit. It was a nice rubber stamp today. This was the end game with what we’ve been trying to do.”
Victory propelled Palace to eighth in the Premier League table, three points off the top four, while Stoke are rock bottom and one of only two sides without a win this season.