Palace rooted in relegation zone after 1-0 loss at Stoke

STOKE, England (AP) — Crystal Palace stayed in the relegation zone in the Premier League after losing 1-0 at Stoke, with Joe Allen scoring the winner on Saturday.

The Wales midfielder scored his sixth goal of the season when he drove home an angled shot in the 67th minute after a pass from Ramadan Sobri.

Palace has lost six of its last seven league matches and is next to last with 13 games remaining. The London team has won only one in eight since former England coach Sam Allardyce took over as manager in late December.

"It's a results business and we need them fast," Allardyce said. "It's not been the results I expected. I thought it would have been easier for me to get the players to understand certain things."

Stoke moved into the top half of the standings.

"It was a war of attrition at times," Stoke manager Mark Hughes said. "Palace came here and made life difficult for us. We had to be vigilant but we were always waiting for that breakthrough."