Cameron Jerome came off the bench to equalise against Everton and earn Stoke a 1-1 draw at the Britannia Stadium.
Substitute cancels out Crouch own goal
Cameron Jerome came off the bench to equalise against Everton and earn Stoke a 1-1 draw at the Britannia Stadium.
Peter Crouch's unfortunate first-half own goal looked likely to give Everton the points and continue the Toffees' recent good form.
Little changed after the interval until Stoke boss Tony Pulis made a triple substitution midway through the second half.
Cameron Jerome entered the fray alongside Glenn Whelan and the lively Ricardo Fuller and the impact was immediate.
Jerome collected the ball near the halfway line and rode his luck to power past two Everton defenders and force the ball past Tim Howard.
It was just about deserved with Stoke posing a regular threat to David Moyes' side, although the more subtle approach of the impressive Steven Pienaar proved dangerous throughout.
But in the end both sides had to settle for a point apiece that lifts Stoke above Norwich into 13th and extends Everton's lead over rivals Liverpool to three points up in seventh.
Throw-ins
Rory Delap - back in the Potters side fresh from signing a new contract extension - was prominent in the first half thanks to his trademark long-throw.
Robert Huth met an early throw-in, only for the referees' assistant to raise their flag, and at the other end Sylvain Distin nodded a corner wide.
Stoke's Jon Walters was next to try to connect with a delivery, this time from Matthew Etherington, but his reward was a collision with Distin which led to him receiving treatment and having his head heavily bandaged.
Etherington then lofted an effort over before Huth headed another Delap missile too high.
Everton were struggling to handle the hosts' aerial bombardment, with Howard just able to fist a cross away from Kenwyne Jones' head, but when the Toffees pushed forward themselves, Leon Osman managed to get a couple of shots away in quick succession, both of which were saved by Asmir Begovic.
After Delap caused another scramble with a throw which Huth met to prompt Howard to punch the ball behind, the visitors went on the attack again, a cross from Magaye Gueye - who had come on a substitute in the 22nd minute for the injured Victor Anichebe - cannoning off Nikica Jelavic and over.
Pienaar then saw his fierce strike helped over the bar by Begovic, Gueye drilled wide from the resulting corner, and moments later, Everton snatched the lead.
Freak
It came in freak circumstances a minute before the break, Pienaar playing a short free-kick to Tony Hibbert, whose cross struck Stoke's Marc Wilson and then his team-mate Crouch before bouncing past Begovic.
A quiet start to the second half was punctuated by a succession of penalty appeals which amounted to nothing, while Osman fluffed his lines after being teed up Pienaar.
Stoke boss Tony Pulis refreshed things by deploying his three substitutes in one fell swoop in the 67th minute as Jerome, Fuller and Whelan replaced Walters, Crouch and Delap, and his decision paid off almost immediately as the Potters pulled level.
Jerome showed great determination to power forward and he got the better of Phil Jagielka and John Heitinga to force the ball past Howard and in.
Jelavic attempted to restore the visitors' lead in the final 10 minutes but miscued and Stoke might have won it themselves late on, Jones shooting over and Howard getting down to save a deflected Huth free-kick.
| Stoke City |
Team Statistics |
Everton |
| 1 |
Goals |
1 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 6 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
1 |
| 4 |
Corners |
6 |
| 6 |
Fouls |
14 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 66.2 |
Passing Success |
77.5 |
| 18 |
Tackles |
11 |
| 77.8 |
Tackles Success |
90.9 |
| 39 |
Possession |
61 |
| 42.3 |
Territorial Advantage |
57.7 |
| 266 |
Total Passes |
426 |
| 20 |
Total Crosses |
28 |
| 174 |
Lost Balls |
183 |
| 55 |
Recoveries |
57 |
| 33.7 |
1st Half Poss. |
66.3 |
| 42.5 |
2nd Half Poss. |
57.5 |
|
