Jaïro Riedewald was the unlikely supersub for Patrick Vieira after his goal eight minutes from time fired Crystal Palace to a hard-fought 2-1 win over Stoke and took them a step closer to Wembley. Cheikhou Kouyaté had seen his early second-half effort for the home side cancelled out by Josh Tymon’s close-range finish to leave the FA Cup fifth-round tie finely poised. Vieira, despite needing a winner, turned to Riedewald over two recognised strikers and saw the decision pay dividends with the former Ajax player scoring his first goal in 13 months in only his fifth appearance of the season to send Palace into the quarter-finals. A light show preceded kick-off but an inconspicuous start followed despite both teams forcing corners in the opening 10 minutes. Palace made five changes from the weekend Premier League draw with Burnley and Vieira went strong again but Eberechi Eze remained on the bench – even though he had started in the previous two rounds. Jordan Ayew was one of those brought into the starting XI and he embarked on a mazy run early on but it ended with Michael Olise’s scuffed shot hitting Jean-Philippe Mateta, who was offside. Stoke, who also shuffled their pack with four players recalled from Saturday’s late loss at Bournemouth, had the first chance when Romaine Sawyers headed over Jordan Thompson’s cross after 21 minutes. The hosts started to up the ante after half an hour with Olise having a penalty appeal waved away after a coming together with Stoke’s Manchester City loanee Taylor Harwood-Bellis but it was not a sign of things to come, with Wilfried Zaha and Liam Moore clashing in the only other flashpoint of the half. Chances started to become more frequent following the restart, with James Chester’s misjudgment in the air allowing Ayew to run through down the right but his centre was poor with Moore able to intercept to deny Zaha and Mateta at the back post. Not long after, Stoke’s Nick Powell was inches away from converting Josh Maja’s deflected effort before the opener did arrive with Palace’s first shot on target in the 53rd minute. A short corner from Olise found Zaha, who picked out the unmarked Mateta inside the area and although his shot took a touch off Tommy Smith, Kouyaté was on hand to side-foot home from seven yards for his first goal since 2020. The celebrations of the recent Africa Cup of Nations winner were short-lived as Stoke equalised five minutes later. Sawyers was able to beat Will Hughes and produced a wonderful cross with the outside of his boot that Tymon converted at the back post to level. Michael O’Neill soon turned to his top scorer, Jacob Brown, and saw Thompson waste a fine chance on the half-volley before Vieira made a double substitution. A smattering of boos greeted his decision to introduce the Palace captain, Luka Milivojevic, and Riedewald despite the presence of Eze, Christian Benteke and Odsonne Édouard on the bench. It would pay off, but only after Joachim Andersen headed Moore’s chip off the line with Jack Butland out of his goal. The winner came when Jack Bonham punched Conor Gallagher’s cross only as far as Riedewald, who controlled on his chest and fired into the bottom corner to ease the tension at Selhurst Park. It vindicated Vieira’s decision and sent Palace into the last eight, with Stoke’s best Cup run in 10 years ending with a battling display.