2) Charlie Adam – Stoke City. 58th Minute, 1-1
When perusing the matches for the weekend it might have been easy to assume Stoke City v. Crystal Palace would be the least likely to produce a top goal, but it turns out this match proved to be one of the more exciting. So with that in mind, we have Charlie Adam coming in at number two in the goals of the week.
Stoke here are set up against Crystal Palace and just looking to push the ball forward. Under new manager Mark Hughes, it’s expect that the long-ball style we’re so used to seeing will diminish. Here, we see the opportunity for a through ball on the left, possibly to plan for a cross. Matthew Etherington decides to play the ball a different route, getting the ball to his best scoring opportunity, Peter Crouch.
We see now that Stoke have opted for a shorter pass. Crystal Palace have closed down the open space well, but in doing so they’ve dragged their defenders away from key points of the attack. Steve N’Zonzi and Charlie Adam are now alone and not being tracked. The options for Stoke to both play a long pass or short are a great use here, as they drag the defenders away, but also set up a pass to Peter Crouch, who has position behind his man. He can sneak deeper into the box, and hope for a nice volley.
Goal Breakdown 
