beIN SPORTS MATCH CENTRE: Stoke City 2-0 Watford

The host went into Wednesday's (AEDT) contest with pressure beginning to build on manager Mark Hughes, but provided him with some welcome relief against a similarly out-of-form Watford side.

Injury-hit Watford, who were missing 10 first-team players for the game, had failed to win in its previous four and rarely looked like ending that run at the bet365 Stadium.

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Stoke always appeared the more likely goalscorers, but it took them until the stroke of half-time to break the deadlock, captain Shawcross doing so by turning in at the near post from Charlie Adam's corner.

Just under four minutes after the restart Crouch made it 2-0 with only his second league goal of the season.

Hughes' men had opportunities to put the game beyond doubt and were fortunate not to be punished as Watford wasted chances of its own in the closing stages, Stoke holding firm to go nine points clear of the bottom three.

Meanwhile, Angel Rangel's dramatic late goal ensured Swansea City started the Paul Clement era with an important 2-1 win over fellow struggler Crystal Palace.

For large parts of the game it looked as though Clement, who signed a two- and-a-half-year deal to replace Bob Bradley at the Liberty Stadium, would be celebrating a 1-0 win, after Alfie Mawson headed his maiden goal for the club in the first half.

Palace thought they had earned a point when Wilfried Zaha - playing his last game before heading to the Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast - levelled with a spectacular acrobatic volley in the 83rd minute.

However, there was time for another late twist from an unlikely source at Selhurst Park as Swansea - which won the chaotic reverse fixture 5-4 - stole the points when Rangel squeezed home a late winner.

Clement, who was supposed to be taking a watching brief but ended up on the touchline in each half, now takes over a side who are just one point adrift of Palace in 17th.