Stoke City manager Mark Hughes accused Joel Ward of making 'the best save of the match ' after being denied a clear penalty during in Saturday 's 2-1 home defeat against Crystal Palace . Hughes was left feeling aggrieved after two big decisions failed to go his side 's way having taken a 14th minute lead through Mame Biram Diouf . Asmir Begovic was controversially penalised for a challenge on Yanick Bolasie to allow Palace to level from the spot after 41 minutes . And then after Wilfried Zaha had put the visitors ahead , Diouf 's goalbound shot in the second half was blocked two-handed by Ward with the Palace getting way with it . Stoke City boss Mark Hughes has accused Joel Ward ( right ) of making 'the best save of the match ' Marko Arnautovic shares words with Crystal Palace 's Ward during the Barclays Premier League clash . 'That decision left us scratching our heads , ' said Hughes . 'Referee Andre Marriner missed a lot of things . I know Julian Speroni did well in the Palace goal but arguably that was the best save of the match . He has got two hands on it for heaven 's sake . How he does n't give it , I 've no idea . ' It rubbed salt into the wound for Hughes who had earlier seen Palace awarded their penalty . 'When you see the replay , the lad Bolasie has got his foot up high above Amsir . That has why Asmir has missed the ball and the referee has deemed it a penalty . It was a key moment , that is one you want them ( the officials ) to get . ' Even so , Hughes did n't have any excuses for Palace 's winning goal from Wilfried Zaha on the stroke of half-time from Glenn Murray 's flick-on . Asmir Begovic was adjudged to have fouled Yannick Bolasie during a colision inside the penalty area . Begovic was shown a yellow card by Andre Marriner after he was adjudged to have brought down Bolasie . 'It was a mistake from us . It was just a long ball , if you do n't clear the first ball , you have to deal with the second ball . We did n't and that is what cost us . We are better than that . ' Stoke slipped to ninth while Palace are now 11 points above the bottom three and Alan Pardew is above his former club Newcastle United in the table . 'It was a cracking game particularly if you were a neutral or a Palace fan , ' said Pardew . ' I think Stoke were unhappy about our penalty . I have n't seen it back but it was a turning point . ' Zaha was all smiles after his winner after being told to stop his 'little sulks ' by Pardew earlier last week . 'He had a tough game , Erik Pieters was a player we tried to sign , he is an aggressive defender . Wilf struggled but he has his moments and we showed a lot of character to have a go . 'It was a tough day for the officials . All of it was fair , but it was a tough physical encounter . It was almost like a Six Nations game at times , in a tough way . ' Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha ( far right ) celebrates with Glenn Murray after scoring against Stoke City .
Stoke boss Mark Hughes felt his side were denied a clear penalty . Hughes has accused Joel Ward of blocking shot with his hand . Yannick Bolasie won penalty when he was adjudged to have been fouled . TL;DR Newcastle United beat West Ham 2-1 at St James' Park on Saturday as they moved up to second in the table.