Stoke-on-Trent, England (SportsNetwork.com) - Peter Crouch's first-half tally held up as the winner on Monday as Stoke City earned its first home win of the season with a 1-0 result over Newcastle United at the Britannia Stadium.
Coming off a 2-1 win over Sunderland in League Cup play, Stoke had to feel Monday's clash was a winnable affair against a struggling Newcastle side.
Newcastle, meanwhile, was desperate for three points as the club has yet to win a Premier League match with pressure heaping down on the shoulders of manager Alan Pardew.
The hosts opened the scoring after just 15 minutes when Victor Moses got free down the left wing and lofted a cross into the box. Crouch, standing 6-foot-7, got himself in position in the box and nodded it down into the bottom right corner.
Newcastle's best chance of the first half came in the 41st minute when defender Daryl Janmaat had a go from a long way that appeared to be ticketed for the bottom right corner, but Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic got down quickly to push it out of play.
The Magpies had another quality opportunity to find an equalizer in the 84th minute when former Manchester United man Gabriel Obertan sent a cross into the area from the right flank that fell kindly for Jack Colback, but his strike smashed the crossbar and stayed out.
The fourth official's board showed four minutes of added time, but the Tyneside club was unable to find an equalizer and is still searching for its first win of the season.
Stoke, meanwhile. improves to eight points after earning its first win on home soil.
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