STOKE (4-3-2-1):

Butland 6; Edwards 5, Wimmer 5, Zouma 4, Pieters 6 (Berahino 71); Cameron 4, Allen 5, Adam 5; Shaqiri 3 (Diouf 57, 6), CHOUPO-MOTING 6; Crouch 4.

Subs (not used): Grant (gk), Souttar, Ramadan, Ireland, Fletcher.


NEWCASTLE (4-4-2):

9 DARLOW: Made three sensational second-half saves to ensure Newcastle claimed all three points – the pick of which denied Diouf in the closing stages

7 Yedlin: Defended resolutely throughout and ensured the dangerous Choupo-Moting was not too much of a factor

8 Lascelles: Another hugely impressive showing from a defender who grows in stature with every week – might an England call be in the offing in 2018?

8 Clark: Won a series of important headers and restricted Crouch to a handful of touches inside the penalty area

7 Manquillo: Won his personal battle against Shaqiri by a wide margin – justified his inclusion ahead of Dummett

8 Murphy: Caused problems with his pace and dribbling ability all afternoon, and produced an excellent cross for Perez’s winner

7 Shelvey: Back to something close to his best as his controlled the heart of midfield and produced a series of impressive through balls

7 Diame: Produced one of his best performances in a Newcastle shirt as he threw himself into tackles and used the ball well

7 Ritchie: Delivered an effective performance as he was switched to the left-hand side – his set-piece delivery was also much better than at the weekend

7 Atsu: Ran the Stoke defence ragged in the first half, but wasn’t quite able to deliver the required composure in front of goal

8 Perez: Looked perfectly at home as a central striker and produced a superb first-time finish to claim the only goal of the game


Subs:

6 Gayle (for Atsu, 64): Might well have won a penalty when he stole ahead of Zouma inside the area

Dummett (for Murphy, 82)

Hayden (for Perez, 90)

(not used): Woodman (gk), Haidara, Merino, Joselu.


Man Of The Match: KARL DARLOW – The Newcastle goalkeeper produced three excellent second-half saves as Stoke threw everything at the Magpies’ backline in the closing stages.