Match report: Everton 3-1 Crystal Palace
Andy Hunter was at Goodison Park for the Guardian and this is how he saw the home side’s victory unfold.
Roy Hodgson speaks: It should go without saying that the Crystal Palace manager is as downbeat as you might expect. “It was a cruel defeat in many ways,” he tells BT Sport’s Des Kelly. “The first 25 minutes was tame from both teams, but towards the end of the half we showed more confidence and got on the ball better.
“The way we started the second was half really good and the equaliser was a result of the control we had,” he continues. “The second goal came when we were pushing and all of a sudden the [Calvert-Lewin] flick puts Richarlison through on a 40 or 50-yard run and we found ourselves fighting to get back another equaliser - we hit the crossbar, the keeper made a fantastic save.
“The third killed it off. I can’t fault the players’ effort, but it’s another defeat and we get what we get for it: nothing.”
Carlo Ancelotti speaks to BT Sport: “The best thing today is the result because the performance was not so good,” says Everton’s manager. “It was a difficult game, a lot of interruptions with throw-ins and we were not able to keep the intensity. Richarlison did a fantastic counter attack and we won for this reason.”
On the subject of Everton substitute delaying his entrance to the arena because he had forgotten to put on one of his socks, he raises that famous eyebrow. “It is certainly a new experience for me,” he says with a smile.
The Premier League table
Everton move up to their rightful place of seventh in the table and are knocking on the door of Europa League qualification. Palace, meanwhile, stay in 14th place, marooned on 30 points. They are six points clear of the relegation zone but look anything but safe. They’re struggling at both ends of the pitch, looking porous at the back and fairly toothless up front.
Updated
Dominic Calvert Lewin speaks: “We knew how important it was today,” he tells BT Sport, shortly after giving his shirt to a young pitch invader and donning a training top for his appearance in front of the camera. “Back-to-back wins puts us in good sshape going into the break. It’s good we won, it wasn’t the prettiest game but we dug in.”
“I am enjoying playing with Richi [Richarlison],” he adds. “Since Dunc [Ferguson] came in we have been a partnership - we work together, complement each other. It wasn’t the best performance from me but I got the goal and should have had another one.”
In summary: As a spectacle it wasn’t up to much, but Everton have run out worthy winners after a much improved second half performance from both sets of players. Bernard gave Everton the lead on 18 minutes, but Everton looked to be on the ropes after Christian Benteke took advantage of a Jordan Pickford mistake to end his goal drought. Richarlison steadied the ship for Everton with a fine solo goal, before Dominic Calvert-Lewin made sure of the points with a late tap-in after Richarlison had hit the bar at a corner.
Full time: Everton 3-1 Crystal Palace
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeep! It’s all over at Goodison Park, where Everton have emerged victorious. Their recovery under Carlo Ancelotti continues, but Palace’s woes continue. They’ve lost three in a row and are without a win in seven Premier League games.
Updated
90+3 min: Schneiderlin tries a shot from the edge of the penalty area, but fires weakly at Milivojevic.
90+1 min: A Richarlison shot from distance is parried into the path of Calvert-Lewin by Guaita, but this time the Everton striker lacks the composure to finish. He blasts the ball high and wide when scoring looked easier.
89 min: Calvert-Lewin has a shot from distance, which Guaita tips over the bar for another corner. This one is sent towards the far post, where Yerry Mina’s header is deflected out for another corner by Gary Cahill.
GOAL! Everton 3-1 Crystal Palace (Calvert-Lewin 88)
Calvert-Lewin scores!! Digne sends the ball to the middle of the penalty area and Richarlison’s header looks to be heading for the top corner. It hits the cross-bar but the ball drops for Calvert-Lewin, who has a simple tap-in from a couple of yards out.
Updated
87 min: Scott Dann slides in to dispossess Lucas Digne and concedes a corner in the process.
85 min: Everton substitution: Mason Holgate on for Gylfi Sigurdsson, with a view to shoring up the defence in these late stages.
84 min: With his back to goal, Benteke turns, swivels and fires a Scott Dann knock-down that bounced his way the wrong side of the upright.
83 min: Palace win a free-kick over by the lefttouchline. Van Aanholt’s delivery into the wind is weak and is cleared on the edge of the penalty area before it can reach any of Palace’s big men.
81 min: Kouyate wins a corner, but Milivojevic’s delivery is cleared by Yerry Mina. The ball’s sent back into the mixer and goes out for a goal-kick. Wilfried Zaha seems to think it should have been another corner.
79 min: We approach the final 10 minutes with Everton leading by the odd goal of the three scored. A crunching tackle by Schneiderlin on Milivojevic prompts raucous cheers from the stands. Palace substitution: Joel Ward makes way for Cheikhou Kouyate. James McArthur moves to right-back and Kouyate slots into midfield.
78 min: How bereft of ideas? Well, they’ve just won a free-kick in the middle of the park and used it to play the ball backwards to their goalkeeper.
75 min: Having looked seriously shaky in the minutes before and after Christian Benteke’s equaliser, Everton have reasserted their dominance since Gylfi Sigurdsson put them back in front. Crystal Palace have looked fairly bereft of ideas throughout the game and the one goal they did score was extremely fortuitous.
72 min: Sigurdsson releases Sidibe down the right with a cross-field pass and the substitute sprints down the touchline with Coleman up in support. Luka Milivojevic gets across to put a stop to their collective gallop.
71 min: Gary Cahill wins a free-kick after being bundled over in his own penalty area by Dominic Calvert-Lewin, as the Everton striker attempted to get on the end of a route one ball into the box from Djibril Sidibe.
69 min: From the left side of the penalty area, Milivojevic tries to pick out Zaha at the far post, but his pass drifts high and wide of the Everton goal.
68 min: Crystal Palace substitution: James McCarthy off, Max Meyer on. McCarthy, a former Evertonian, gets a warm reception from the home crowd.
66 min: James Tomkins was forced off in the immediate aftermath of Richarlison’s goal and has been replaced by Scott Dann. For Everton, Bernard has just made way for Tom Davies.
64 min: Now it’s Vicente Guaita’s turn to impress, stretching out his left arm to prevent the ball from going past him after Sigurdsson had wriggled past three players and tried to lift it over him and into the top corner. Sensational goalkeeping at both ends of the pitch.
62 min: Jordan Pickford goes some way towards redeeming himself with a fantastic save from Benteke. The Palace striker looked to have the goal at his mercy from five or six yards out, but Pickford flung himself to his left to save the header from point-blank range with his chest.
Updated
60 min: Richarlison wheels away in celebration after a fine goal. He was sent galloping down the pitch in the aftermath of a corner at the other end. Everton hoofed clear, Dominic Calvert-Lewin put it into Richarlison’s path with a nice little touch and the Brazilian outran Gary Cahill, before cutting between him and James Tomkins defenders and curling a wonderful shot past Guaita into the bottom corner.
Updated
GOAL! Everton 2-1 Crystal Palace (Richarlison 59)
Everton re-take the lead. With Palace finally dominant, their hosts go ahead again with a scything counter-attack.
Updated
57 min: Palace have a corner and the ball is sent towards the near post by Van Aanholt. Richarlison and Coleman make a mess of their attempts to clear it and Pickford is all over the place, through no fault of his own, as the ball ricochets off Benteke and then the post.
Updated
55 min: Nobody was a bigger fan of Jordan Pickford than me when he made his name as a young goalkeeper in a struggling Sunderland team, but after yet another error, you’d have to question his credentials as England’s No1. He’ll probably keep his place in Gareth Southgate’s team, but at what cost to their England’s fortunes during the European Championships.
Updated
53 min: Jordan Pickford is standing with his hands on his hips, shaking his head and well he might. He’s had a nightmare on this occasion. Having had to ball played to him on the right side of the penalty area by Wilf Zaha, Benteke shot towards the near post. Pickford looked to have it covered, but somehow let the ball squirm through his legs. It should have been a straightforward save, but Benteke won’t care. The much-documented drought is finally over.
Updated
GOAL! Everton 1-1 Crystal Palace (Benteke 51)
It’s all square! And Christian Benteke has scored after 34 games without a goal.
Updated
50 min: Palace work their way down the left touchline, with Van Aanholt, McArthur and Benteke linking up. The move breaks down when McArthur is flagged for offside.
48 min: Pickford is forced off his line to punch a bouncing ball clear under pressure from McArthur, after Yerry Mina had completely missed a Zaha cross into the box with his acrobatic effort to clear it.
47 min: Jordan Pickford sends a clearance out of play and into the stand. It’s a rare kicking aberration from the England goalkeeper.
46 min: Seamus Coleman concedes an early free-kick after clattering into the back of Wilf Zaha. They’re having quite the duel this afternoon, but the Irishman is keeping the Palace winger on a very tight rein.
Second half: Everton 1-0 Crystal Palace
46 min: Play resumes, on the first of two weekends in English football featuring the Heads Together Heads Up campaign to raise awareness of mental health. Click on the link to find out more about this decidedly worthy venture.
Half-time: Everton 1-0 Crystal Palace
Peep! A fairly forgettable half is put out of its misery, the only moments of quality having been Bernard’s sweet volley on 18 minutes and Everton substitute Djibril Sidibe having to return to the dressing room because he had forgotten to put on one of his socks.
45+3 min: Everton teammates Morgan Schneiderlin and Yerry Mina have a frank exchange of views over something or other, with the former poking the latter vigorously in the chest with his finger.
45+2 min: Patrick van Aanholt shoots high and wide after receiving a cushioned pass from Christian Benteke on the edge of the Everton penalty area.
45 min: A half very low on quality nears its close, as the fourth official signals three minutes of added time to make up for the break in play when Theo Walcott required treatment before going off.
43 min: Pickford comes for the ball, claims it and then loses it in a penalty area challenge with Wilf Zaha. The Palace winger scrambles to his feet in a bid to chase the loose ball and promptly goes to ground as he tussles for it with Seamus Coleman. He appeals for a penalty, but none is forthcoming. That seems fair enough to me, having seen a replay.
42 min: A Patrick van Aanholt back-pass to his own goalkeeper comes up short, due to the wind, forcing Guaita to hare out of his penalty area and hack it clear under extreme pressure from Richarlison.
41 min: Crystal Palace have improved a bit in recent minutes, but still don’t look like scoring.
40 min: Having stood in opposing dug-outs for the first time in Italy back 1996, Carlo Ancelotti and Roy Hodgson are enjoying a nice chat on the touchline.
39 min: Jordan Ayew sends a cross in from the left after good work by Sidibe to win the ball. He aims for Christian Benteke, but Michael Keane heads clear.
37 min: Joel Ward is penalised for hand ball in a tussle with Richarlison. Free-kick for Everton, about 40 yards from the Everton goal. Lucas Digne sends the ball into the mixer, where Ward clears.
Updated
35 min: Palace get the ball out of their own half for what seems like the first time in their age, but Ayew is dispossessed by a crunching tackle from Coleman.
34 min: The pressure from Everton is practically relentless at this stage, with their visitors severely under the cosh. Palace are not playing with any kind of urgency and are doing little more than hanging, trying to weather the storm at the moment.
33 min: Seamus Coleman curls the ball towards the far post from deep, trying to pick out Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Palace clear.
31 min: Lucas Digne dribbles along the front of the Palace penalty area, only to be dispossessed by Joel Ward before he can take a shot.
29 min: According to BT Sport’s Des Kelly, Djibril Sidibe went back to the dressing room because he had forgotten one of his socks. How on earth do you forget to put on a sock?
Updated
27 min: Moments after that Calvert-Lewin chance, Djibril emerged from the tunnel and has now dignified his fellow combatants with his presence. He’s on for Theo Walcott, who has pulled up lame.
26 min: Having knocked a Seamus Coleman delivery to Bernard, Dominic Calvert-Lewin lifts himself off the ground and flings himself goalwards, trying to convert the return pass. He can’t reach it.
25 min: Or is he? Sidibe either needs to visit the toilet or has forgotten something. He heads for the tunnel, leaving Carlo Ancelotti and Duncan Ferguson looking furious.
23 min: Having provided the assist for Everton’s opener, Theo Walcott appears to be struggling with injury. He’s going to come off and be replaced by Djibril Sidibe.
22 min: Calvert-Lewini tries to play the ball past Joel Ward into the path of Richarlison, but the Crystal Palace defender stretches to intercept.
19 min: Everton get their noses in front, capitalising on an error by Wilfried Zaha. He lost possession not too far outside his own penalty area, Walcott took the ball wide of Van Aanholt and then curled in a wonderful cross. It dropped beautifully for Bernard, whose side-footed finish from eight yards could not have been any sweeter.
GOAL! Everton 1-0 Crystal Palace (Bernard 18)
Everton take the lead! Theo Walcott curls a wonderful cross in from the left after a mistake in possession by Wilf Zaha and Bernard clips a wonderful half-volley past Guaita to put his side a goal up.
Updated
16 min: Palace win a free-kick wide on the right and Milivojevic curls the ball towards the far post, aiming for Christian Benteke., Jordan Pickford comes off his line to claim confidently.
15 min: Palace hoof it long and a back-pedalling Michael Keane does well to head the bouncing ball clear under extreme pressure from Jordan Ayew.
13 min: Patrick van Aanholt cuts into the Everton penalty area from the right and unleashes a low shot. It takes a wicked deflection off Theo Walcott before hitting the post and going out for a corner. Nothing comes of the set piece.
12 min: Crystal Palace win a corner, Michael Keane doing well to tackle Christian Benteke as he cantered into the Everton penalty area. Gary Cahill gets a near post flick-on, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin intercepts. Everton clear the danger.
11 min: Having won the free-kick, Lucas Digne floats the ball in to the penalty from deep, trying to pick out Yerry Mina at the far post. The big Colombian wins the header, but is unable to direct it goalwards.
9 min: James McCarthy is booked for a decidedly robust challenge on Lucas Digne. He slid in and got the ball, but took out the Everton defender in the process. There’s a VAR check to see if the challenge is more deserving of a red, but it remains a booking.
9 min: Good work from Seamus Coleman, who gets tight on Zaha and puts the ball out of play for a throw-in as Palace’s star man was threatening.
8 min: Patrick van Aanholt tries to play Wilfried Zaha in behind Seamus Coleman and into the penalty area, but his pass is wayward and Jordan Pickford is first to the ball.
6 min: Jordan Ayew picks up the ball on the edge of the final third, but is tackled by Lucas Digne, who incurs a minor injury in the process. He picks himself off the ground and carries on.
5 min: Everton advance up the pitch with Gylfi Sigurdsson on the ball. The atmosphere at Goodison Park seems remarkably subdued in these early stages, meaning the shouts of the players on the field clearly audible.
3 min: Lucas Digne shoots for goal from the free-kick, his drive bouncing in front of Guaita as the goalkeeper dives to his right to save.
2 min: Gary Cahill is caught in possession at the back by Dominic Calvert-Lewin and fouls the Everton striker as he tries to retrieve it. Free-kick for Everton about 30 years from the Palace goal, where Vicente Guaita’s vision is being impaired by the sun in his eyes.
Everton v Crystal Palace is go
1 min: It’s a windy day on Merseyside as play gets under way, with Palace getting the ball rolling. Everton’s players wear their customary home kit of blue shirts, white shorts and white socks. Their visitors wear navy shirts, shorts and socks.
Updated
Not long now: The teams make their way out on to the Goodison Park pitch for one of just four top flight games being played this weekend, what with the other 12 top flight teams currently enjoying their winter break. The players go through the last of the pre-match formalities and kick-off is just a couple of minutes away.
Carlo Ancelotti speaks: “We need more of everything,” said Everton’s manager on the subject of his four changes. “More quality, more intensity, more pressure, more concentration. It’s not easy to pick the line-up but I want everyone to be involved and the players accept my decisions. Crystal Palace are a good team with lots of different qualities but we want to focus on our game today. We hope to take the initiative and play a fantastic match.”
Roy Hodgson speaks: Asked if he would pick Vicente Guaita following the goalkeeping error that cost Crystal Palace three points against Sheffield United last week, Roy Hodgson was adamant the Spaniard would start today.
“You don’t drop first-choice goalkeepers because they’ve made one mistake,” he said. “It can happen to anyone. We’re very happy with him and very happy he’s playing today.”
Four changes for Everton ...
While Roy Hodgson names an identical side to the one that lost against Sheffield United last weekend, Carlo Ancelotti has made four changes following his team’s come-from-behind win against Watford.
As previously mentioned, Fabian Delph is suspended and replaced by Morgan Schneiderlin, while Seamus Coleman and Michael Keane come into defence for Djibril Sidibe and Mason Holgate. Alex Iwobi also drops to the bench to make way for Bernard.
Everton v Crystal Palace line-ups
Everton: Pickford, Coleman, Keane, Mina, Digne, Walcott, Sigurdsson, Schneiderlin, Bernard, Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison.
Subs: Holgate, Baines, Iwobi, Sidibe, Stekelenburg, Davies, Kean.
Crystal Palace: Guaita, Ward, Tomkins, Cahill, van Aanholt, Ayew, McCarthy, Milivojevic, McArthur, Zaha, Benteke.
Subs: Dann, Meyer, Kouyate, Townsend, Hennessey, Mitchell, Riedewald.
Referee: David Coote (Nottinghamshire)
Early team news ...
Everton will be without Fabian Delph, who is serving a one-match suspension and will sit this game out on the Naughty Step following his red card against Watford last weekend. Andre Gomes and Jan-Philippe Gbamin are long term absentees, although Carlo Ancelotti has revealed that Gomes is nearing a surprisingly early return from the horrific ankle injury he suffered during Everton’s draw with Spurs in November. The midfielder might be fit enough to make Everton’s squad for their match against Arsenal on 23 February.
On loan at Palace from Everton, the Turkish striker Cenk Tosun is ineligible for this game against his parent club, but would have missed out anyway due to a hamstring problem. Centre-back Mamadou Sakho remains sidelined with a hip injury, while left-back Jeffrey Schlupp has a hip injury and has not played since early December.
Match preview ...
Had it not been for the stoppage-time implosion against Newcastle Carlo Ancelotti would be seeking his fourth win in four home matches as Everton manager. Having overseen the club’s first comeback victory in the Premier League for over two years last weekend, however, and with 10 men at Watford, he had no complaints over the response.
Palace lack that momentum, with no wins in 2020, only three victories in the last 17 league games and an underwhelming transfer window fuelling frustration around Selhurst Park, yet only three points separate these sides.
Premier League: Everton v Crystal Palace
The first of today’s two Premier League matches kick off at Goodison Park, where Everton host Crystal Palace in today’s lunchtime fixture. Just three points separate the sides, but Palace will draw level with Everton on 30 points if they can beat them today. Kick-off on Merseyside is at 12.30pm (GMT), but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
