Stoke 2-1 Besiktas<br /><br />Crouch 15<br />Walters (pen) 78<br />Hilbert 14<br /><br />Substitute Jon Walters scored a late penalty as Stoke came from behind to beat Besiktas.<br /><br />The Turkish side opened the scoring in the 14th minute when Roberto Hilbert ran on to Ricardo Quaresma's fine through ball to score.<br /><br />But Peter Crouch equalised a minute later when he stabbed in from close range after a corner was not cleared.<br /><br />Substitute Walters had already hit the post when he netted from the spot with 12 minutes remaining.<br /><br />After drawing their first game in Kiev the Potters are now top of Europa League Group E ahead of back-to-back games with Maccabi Tel-Aviv.<br /><br />Manager Tony Pulis had complained before the game that his side needed help after being handed away Premier League games after each Europa League match.<br /><br />As a result Pulis made seven changes from the side which drew 1-1 with Manchester United last weekend, with only Crouch, Rory Delap, Ryan Shawcross and Matthew Etherington remaining in the starting XI.<br /><br />But he still saw his side produce a rousing display which owed much to their lauded prowess from set-pieces, despite Uefa regulations meaning the pitch had to be widened and, in the process, the run-up area for Delap's long throws reduced.<br /><br />Former Turkey goalkeeper Rustu Recber flapped at his first Delap throw but was given a soft free-kick by referee Antony Gautier.<br /><br />Delap headed a Dean Whitehead corner narrowly wide before Besiktas took the lead through Hilbert. Quaresma split the defence with a magnificent through ball and Hilbert flicked the ball first-time around Thomas Sorensen despite Robert Huth's desperate challenge.<br /><br />Stoke needed a response and took less than two minutes to level through Crouch.<br /><br />Rustu failed to collect a Whitehead corner, Shawcross saw his effort blocked and Crouch was on hand to bundle over the line from three yards out.<br /><br />For Crouch - sent off for Tottenham in the quarter-finals of the Champions League against Real Madrid in his last European appearance - it was a
