Crystal Palace 's James McArthur has been criticised by his manager Alan Pardew , who feels the midfielder should be 'embarrassed ' about diving in Saturday 's 2-1 win at Stoke . McArthur was booked early in the second half of the Barclays Premier League clash at the Britannia Stadium for simulation having taken a tumble in the box . And Pardew told Sky Sports ' Goals on Sunday programme : 'He dived . 'He should be embarrassed . He 's a great professional and that 's unlike him . I was surprised but it shows what pressure does to players . Crystal Palace midfielder James McArthur ( left ) was booked for diving in the second-half against Stoke City . Alan Pardew told Sky Sports ' Goals on Sunday programme that MacArthur should feel 'embarrassed ' ' I have n't spoken to him about it but I do n't need to . He will see the replay and he will be embarrassed . ' The win continued Palace 's resurgence under Pardew , who took over in January after leaving Newcastle . Having been in the relegation zone at that point , the Eagles are now 11 points clear of it and up to 11th place - one spot above Newcastle . Pardew had a rocky relationship with the Tyneside club 's fans and when his Newcastle side were beaten 1-0 at Stoke in September , several of the away supporters held up signs calling for him to be sacked . However , following a much happier return to the Potteries for the 53-year-old on Saturday , he insisted it was of no real significance to him that Palace had leapfrogged Newcastle in the table . And Pardew also indicated he is not about to take anything for granted in terms of survival . Palace - with 19 points from 10 league games under Pardew so far - have a total of 36 , and he said : ' I 'm still thinking about another couple of points . Stoke City forward Jonathan Walters ( left ) hassles Palace 's Joel Ward ( right ) for the ball on Saturday . Palace winger Wilfried Zaha ( right ) celebrates scoring his side 's second goal with team-mate Glenn Murray . 'But nine wins ( for Palace in the league over the season ) going into this international break - I would have absolutely jumped at that when I arrived . ' Asked if there was any significance for him to going above Newcastle , Pardew said : 'No , not really . 'The most important thing for me is that this club is within touching distance of Premier League status for next year . 'That is the only agenda I had when I arrived . We have done absolutely brilliantly . 'It ( his previous visit to Stoke ) was a difficult night , and I 've had them as a manager . You have to show your mettle . 'But it was a different feeling on Saturday because we are in great form . You want to have more of those in your career , and hopefully I can as I continue with Palace . ' Stoke midfielder Steven N'Zonzi ( left ) dribbles the ball away from Palace 's Jason Puncheon ( right ) Stoke , 10th on 42 points , are looking this season to better their Premier League records set last term of a ninth-placed finish and 50-point total . Saturday 's result made it back-to-back defeats and manager Mark Hughes is keen for an impressive campaign not to fizzle out . He did , though , stress he thought the Potters ' performance against Palace had been an improvement on the previous weekend 's loss to West Brom . ' I thought performance-wise it was a marked difference from last week , which was pleasing , but we have n't got a positive result , ' Hughes said . 'We are disappointed - we made mistakes , so maybe we did n't do enough to win . 'But we certainly deserved to take something out of it . ' Palace have climbed to 11th in the Premier League table since Pardew took over at the club in January .
Crystal Palace 's James McArthur was booked for simulation against Stoke . Alan Pardew told Goals on Sunday candidly that the player dived . Posted at 21:02 22 Jul 201421:02 22