Three points and a clean sheet against any Premier League team is not to be sniffed at, but Stoke's 1-0 win over Crystal Palace was about as uninspiring as victories get. It was an open game featuring two sides playing well below their collective abilities whose shared game plan was to pick up the second ball off their respective target men.
It led to a relatively uneventful contest with little in the way of goalmouth action but one that was won with a rare departure from long balls forward in favour of some incisive play on the ground.