Peter Crouch became just the 26th player to reach a century of Premier League goals as Stoke City were held to a 1-1 draw by Everton at the bet365 Stadium this evening.
The former Liverpool player broke the deadlock early on with his landmark goal, but Ryan Shawcross turned the ball into his own net shortly before the interval to ensure that the spoils were shared.
It took just seven minutes for Crouch to bring up triple figures when Marko Arnautovic collected the ball over the top and slid the big striker in on goal, and he made no mistake to tap it home from close range, becoming the oldest Premier League centurion in the process.
The former England international delighted fans with his trademark robot celebration, but Stoke were soon under pressure as Everton went in search of a quick equaliser.
The Toffees, who came into the match having won their last three games with clean sheets in each, had their first decent sight of goal after 18 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in space, but he dragged his long-range effort comfortably wide of the target.
It was soon evident that Crouch did not want to settle on 100 goals, and he came close twice in quick succession midway through the first half when first he looped a header into the arms of Joel Robles before fizzing a volley narrowly wide.
Everton hit back with an opening of their own when Bruno Martins Indi did just enough to put Seamus Coleman off inside the box, with the full-back only able to fire over the crossbar on his 200th league appearance for the club.
The Potters continued to threaten at the other end too, though, and should have doubled their advantage shortly after the hour mark when Arnautovic was found in the area by Charlie Adam, only for Robles to smother the Austrian.
Everton levelled things up shortly before half time, but the goal came in controversial circumstances after the officials initially seemed to flag Lukaku offside. However, referee Craig Pawson discussed matters with his linesman before awarding the goal due to the final touch coming off Shawcross while Lukaku was in an offside position.
Stoke should have restored their lead before half time when Arnautovic was played clean through on goal, but the forward opted against taking the ball around Robles and instead saw his effort kept out by the Everton keeper.
Clear-cut chances were tougher to come by for both sides in the opening stages of the second half, with Lee Grant keeping out a Ross Barkley effort from range before Robles was forced to backpedal in order to stop an audacious Adam shot from the halfway line.
The hosts did begin to up the ante again shortly after the hour mark, though, with Robles forced to deny Adam's free kick before Crouch came close twice in a matter of seconds.
Stoke were able to hand a debut to January signing Saido Berahino in the 67th minute, but it was an Everton change - and indeed another new arrival - who was the next to come close when Ademola Lookman forced a save from Grant at the near post.
Both sides pushed for the win in the closing stages, with Morgan Schneiderlin stinging the palms of Grant on his full debut for Everton before Berahino and Shawcross both came close themselves in quick succession for the home side.
It was Stoke who were forced to hang on in the final few minutes, though, with Grant denying Tom Davies and Ramiro Funes Mori to keep his side's point intact.
The draw means that Stoke are now unbeaten in six Premier League games since April 2014, while the Toffees match that unbeaten streak but see their three-match winning run come to an end.
The Potters move up to ninth in the table courtesy of the point, while Everton remain seventh, now nine points adrift of the top four.
Barney Corkhill
