The only thing that sparked him up was a confrontation with Stoke's two central defenders, who were out to "spoil" his game right from the kick-off.
Stoke City are a team of bruisers. They have very few positives; just a load of negatives; and they set out to destroy before they try and create.
Alan Pardew: "Papiss, I think, would be the first to tell you he was awful today.
"He didn't do anything, really, to influence other than doing well on some defensive issues for us.
"But then the moment comes.
"It's an eye-of-the-needle pass from [substitute Sylvain] Marveaux, which he has [in his game]. The ball pops up and most strikers would snatch at that.
"But he let it come all the way down and finished it and in the 92nd minute, that's not easy to do, trust me."