A towering header from Peter Crouch saw Stoke City beat Newcastle United on Monday evening at the Britannia stadium.
A scrappy opening ten minutes saw both sides met with boos and jeers from their respective fans, but that was quickly forgotten for the home side as they had a chance through Nigerian forward Victor Moses, who fired his shot straight at Dutch keeper Tim Krul.
The home fans were then vocal again but this time for a penalty appeal after Moses seemed to be hauled down by Yoann Gouffran.
They did not have long to wait until they were cheering though as Peter Crouch towered above everyone to head in past Krul and give his side the lead.
The visitors then produced a chance as Moussa Sissoko sent a powerful effort towards goal, which whistled just past the post.
But, despite the Frenchman’s miss – Alan Pardew’s side continued to have the better chances from that moment on.
Daryl Janmaat then came close but his effort failed to test the Stoke City keeper Asmir Begovic and the score remained in the home side’s favour heading into the second half.
The second half saw Newcastle have a flurry of half chances but it was not until the final moments that they tested Begovic.
Gabriel Obertan’s cross reached Jack Colback inside the box but the youngster could only hit the crossbar and the score remained 1-0 as the referee blew his whistle.