Match report: Everton 1-1 Crystal Palace
Richard Jolly was at Goodison Park to see Everton underwhelm once again. Here’s how he saw the action unfold ...
Michy Batshuayi: “It is a really hard game,” says the man who played seven minutes of it and scored Crystal Palace’s equaliser. “Everton have a lot of chances in the game. We stayed focused and concentrated. We have an opportunity and I scored so I am happy. It is a great finish but I thought I might be offside. I am happy. It is better to win but we are happy. Normally, Everton should win today. It is a good performance for us and a good point. Every point is important. We keep working and we want to win. We don’t train for nothing and we want more points.”
Premier League: Wolves entertain West Ham in the weekend’s final match. West Ham midfielder Declan Rice is sidelined with a knee injury and (utterly unconfirmed) speculation abounds he may miss the rest of the season and possibly the Euros. You can follow the action with Rob Smyth ...
Full-time: Everton 1-1 Crystal Palace
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeep! It’s all over at Goodison Park, where the points have been shared. On an evening when Richarlison missed enough chances to win three or four games, James Rodriguez put Everton ahead in the second half, only for his side to concede a soft late equaliser to Palace substitute Michy Batshuayi in the closing minutes.
90+3 min: The game threatens to end as it started with play scrappy and focussed in the middle third of the pitch.
90+1: Everton drive forward trying to find a winner. Richarlison picks out Sigurdsson on the edge of the Palace penalty area, but he is disposssessed.
90+1 min: We’ll have four minutes or thereabouts of added time.
89 min: Guaita dives low to his right and saves well from Richarlison, who chalks another one up in the debit side of his matchday ledger. He didn’t get much power behind his shot but it was heading for the corner.
87 min: The Belgian takes advantage of a lapse in concentration from the ball-watching Michael Keane to run on to a through ball down the inside left and shoot low and hard into the far corner.
GOAL! Everton 1-1 Crystal Palace (Batshuayi 86)
Well, wouldn’t you know it! Batshuayi pulls Palace level just a few moments after coming on.
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84 min: Palace substitution: Michy Batshuayi on for Jordan Ayew. After criticising his manager for not trusting him in an interview during the international break, Batshuayi is given the guts of 10 minutes to show what he can do.
83 min: Everton continue to lead but are looking anything but in control. Van Aanholt passes to Schlupp in a good position in the Everton penalty area but he shoots wide of the far post.
81 min: Richarlison is teed up by Digne and shoots his effort into the ground from about 10 yards out. The ball bounces up and is heading goalwards but Guaita saves superbly. It’s not Richarlison’s day and he looks thoroughly fed up with his lot in life.
78 min: A brace of Jean-Philippes enter the field of battle. Crystal Palace substitution: Jean-Philippe Mateta on for Christian Benteke. Everton substittution: Jean-Philippe Gbamin on for James Rodriguez. Well done to him after 20 months of unadulterated injury hell.
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77 min: Zaha tries to drill the ball across the Everton penalty area but his effort is blocked by Godfrey.
75 min: Everton substitution: Seamus Coleman off, Ben Godfrey on. Gylfi Sighurdsson takes the captain’s armband from the Irish national treasure.
73 min: Having weathered something of a mini-Palace storm, Everton go in search of a second. At the risk of stating the blindingly obvious, the next goal here will be crucial. Should Everton score it, you suspect that’s the game done and dusted. If Palace can rustle up an equaliser in the next 10 minutes, I wouldn’t put it past them to go on and win the game.
70 min: Now it’s Schlupp’s turn to have a cross from the left blocked. Michael Keane puts his delivery out for a corner, from which nothing comes.
69 min: Palace’s final ball lets them down again, with Patrick van Aanholt getting in behind the Everton defence, only to have his attempted cross blocked.
68 min: Palace substitution: Jeffrey Schlupp on for Jairo Riedewald.
67 min: Jordan Ayew shoots from the edge of the Everton penalty area but doesn’t trouble Olsen unduly. Palace are starting to bare their teeth.
65 min: A mix-up between James and Tom Davies in midfield leads to Wilf Zaha stealing the ball and bearing down on goal., He ends up shooting straight at Olsen and a half-decent chance goes begging for Palace.
63 min: Eze tries a shot from distance which is parried clear by Robin Olsen in the Everton goal.
62 min: Eberezi Eze is caught napping on the ball by Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who dispossesses him. The Palace man goes to ground and referee Kevin Friend gives him a free-kick I’m not sure was justified.
57 min: In possession of the ball on the byline a few yards from the goal post after Guaita had “saved” the ball his way following a Sigurdsson effort in the wake of an Everton attack down the left, Seamus Coleman is given all the time in the world to decide what to do with it. Quite wisely, he elects to tee up James and rolls the ball towards him in the penalty area. The Colombian rifles a right-footed shot into the bottom right-hand corner.
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GOAL! Everton 1-0 Crystal Palace (Rodriguez 56)
James Rodriguez marks his return to Everton’s starting side with a goal.
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54 min: James sends the ball across the edge of the six-yard box from the corner flag and both Yerry Mina and Richarlison leap but fail to make contacrt with the ball. Richarlison gives his team-mate the stink-eye for getting in his way and putting him off. He seems to have the right hump on today, Richarlison, for some reason. He’s very spiky.
53 min: The ball breaks to Sigurdsson on the edge of the Palace penalty area. He pulls a low shot towards the bottom left-hand corner but it’s deflected out for a corner off Kouyate.
52 min: Eze takes the corner, passing the ball to Zaha on the edge of the penalty area. He runs into to traffic and loses possession but Everton struggle to clear the ball properly.
51 min: Seamus Coleman slides in to prevent Van Aanholt from squaring the ball across the face of the Everton goal. Corner for Palace.
49 min: Zaha runs out of road, collides with Richarlison on the edge of the Everton penalty area and goes down looking for a free-kick. Quite correctly, he doesn’t get one. If he had, Richarlison would probably have wanted to take it.
48 min: Wilf Zaha tries to play a weighted pass into the Everton penalty area but it’s blocked and the ball is cleared.
Second half: Everton 0-0 Crystal Palace
46 min: Gylfi gets the ball rolling for the second half, with Richarlison clearly not as enthused about taking the kick-off as he is free-kicks on the edge of the Palace penalty area. James tries to catch out Guaita with a sneaky shot from out wide after spotting the Palace keeper off his line. The Spaniard back-pedals to catch the ball.
Half-time: Everton 0-0 Crystal Palace
Peep! The deadline remains unbroken at Goodison Park, where Everton have had the better chances in a match that has been decidedly low on quality. Palace haven’t been particularly bad but they are struggling to find any cutting edge in and around the Everton penalty area.
45+3 min: Palace free-kick about 40 yards from the Everton goal. Nothing comes of it and the half-time whistle is blown by Kevin Friend.
45+2 min: DIgne curls an ambitious and accurate cross-field ball towards Calvert-Lewin from the left. Palace clear.
45+1 min: We’ll have a minimum of two minutes of added time.
44 min: Free-kick for Everton about 40 yards from the Palace goal, in line with the left edge of the penalty area. James curls the ball in and Richarlison rises unmarked to head over the bar.
43 min: James tries a diagonal shot from distance after being teed up by Richarlison. The ball skids wide of the far post.
41 min: And take it he does, curling the ball high and wide of the angle of upright and cross-bar. I suspect he won’t be allowed to take the next one.
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39 min: Kouyate fouls Richarlison just outside the Palace penalty area, a little left of centre. Richarlison, Sigurdsson, Digne and James all want to take the free-kick and are having a right old squabble over it. Richarlison has the ball in his hands and it appears possession is nine tenths of the law - he is determined to take it.
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38 min: Everton are probably having the better of proceedings so far but neither side has looked particularly convincing, especially up front.
37 min: A Christian Benteke shot from the edge of the Everton penalty area is blocked by Holgate but the ball loops up in the air. It’s spinning out for a corner but Robin Olsen does well to keep it in play.
35 min: Everton switch play from right to left and Lucas Digne sends in a cross. It’s headed clear, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin lurking with intent.
34 min: Lucas Digne gets booked for “leaving one in” on Jordan Ayew’s instep down by the touchline near halfway.
33 min: Seamus Coleman swings another cross in from the right and Guaita manages to fist towards the touchline at his far post.
31 min: Tom Davies and Patrick van Aanholt accidentally clatter into each other as Eze zips past them down the inside left. They’re both fine to continue.
30 min: Everton substitution: Andre Gomes limps off, Gylfi Sigurdsson trots on in his place.
29 min: As we approach the half-hour mark, Andre Gomes goes down injured and in need of medical attention. I’m not sure what’s up with him but Gylfi Sigurdsson is preparing to come on.
26 min: Zaha pulls a shot wide of the right upright from just outside the Everton penalty area.
25 min: James Rodriguez takes down a cross from the right in the Palace penalty area only to hook the ball high over the bar. Seamus Coleman is looking very menacing down the right flank for Everton.
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22 min: A shocking miss from Richarlison, who’s played through on goal by Gomes. He shoots straight at Guaita, who parriesd the ball back to Richarlison’s feet but he doesn’t have enough room to take the ball around the keeper and slot in to an empty net. Everton could and should be two or three up already. Will they be punished?
20 min: Two chances in quick succession for Everton. First, Vicente Guaita is quick to dash off his line to deny Calvert-Lewin, then Richarlison gets on the end of a Seamus Coleman cross and tries to steer a header across the face of goal into the top corner. Wide but not by much.
19 min: From the left side of the Everton penalty, Eze plays a neat one-two in a tight pocket of space with Jordan Ayew. He fires towards the near post but Robin Olsen saves fairly comfortably.
18 min: The camera cuts to Roy Hodgson on the touchline, where he’s clucking away angrily like a cranky old hen. He’s out of contract this summer, along with about a dozen of Palace’s first team squad. There’s a lot of speculation surrounding his future and both Eddie Howe and Sean Dyche have been linked with his job.
16 min: Nothing comes from the free-kick in the centre-circle. It seems, however, that it was Yerry Mina, not Tom Davies who was booked. I have no idea what he did. It’s not as if you could mix the pair of them up and it was definitely Davies who was in hot pursuit of Eze.
15 min: Eze tries to play Benteke in behind but is fouled by Tom Davies, who gets a yellow card.
14 min: It’s all very scrappy in these early stages. That Everton counter-attack notwithstanding, very little of note has occurred.
12 min: A poor clearance from Patrick van Aanholt cannons off Seamus Coleman and out for a Palace throw-in.
9 min: Gomes it was who played Richarlison in on goal, despite the Brazilian being in a very obviously offside position. I suspect that may be why he elected not to shoot. In any event, the flag went up eventually, so the blushes of all concerned, including Milivojevic, were spared.
7 min: Milivojevic is caught dawdling on the ball and in a mili-second Richarlison is put clear through on goal down the inside-right. Instead of shooting under pressure from Joel Ward, he squares the ball for James but his pass is a little behind the Colombian. Gary Cahill gets back in time to block his weak effort on goal. That was a wonderful chance for Everton to take the lead.
6 min: Benteke tees up Zaha with a lay-off but the Palace winger’s shot is blocked by Yewrry Mina, who concedes a corner. Eberezi Eze’s corner is cleared by Richarlison.
5 min: Not much of note to report so far, with most of the play taking place in the middle third of the pitch.
4 min: Everton have set up with three at the back and wing-backs, while Palace lined up in their usual 4-4-2 formation.
2 min: It seems quite blustery at Goodison Park, even though the sun is out. There’s a break in play as Lucas Digne goes down holding his throat after getting caught by a flailing Joel Ward arm. The Palace defender is perhaps lucky to avoid an early booking for that one.
Everton v Crystal Palace is go ...
1 min: Crystal Palace get the ball rolling, their players wearing black shirts with a red stripe down the front and back, and blue side-panels. They also wear black shorts and black socks. Everton’s representatives wear their usual home kit of blue shirts, white shorts and white socks.
Not long now: Everton are hoping to make it 13 games unbeaten against Palace but their dodgy home form means Roy Hodgson must fancy his team’s chances this evening. The home side line up in the narrow Goodison Park tunnel, waiting for Palace to make their way on to the pitch from their temporary digs in the car park. Kick-off is just a couple of minutes away.
Football Weekly podcast
Max Rushden and I were joined by Lars Sivertsen, Philippe Auclair and Sid Lowe for the latest thrilling instalment of the Guardian’s Football Weekly podcast this morning. We picked over the bones of the weekend’s Premier League action, discussed the depressing race-fuelled controversy that prompted Valencia’s players to walk off the pitch during their match against Cadiz and wondered exactly how many degrees an owl can rotate its head. You can listen in by clicking on the link below, or subscribe for free in all the usual podcast places.
Those teams: There are four changes to the Everton team that was dumped out of the FA Cup by Manchester City before the internaitonal break. Michael Keane comes in for Ben Godfrey in central defence, while Allan, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Joao Virginia also make way. James Rodriguez, Tom Davies and Robert Olsen come into the side. Crystal Palace stick with the same side that beat West Brom last time out.
Everton v Crystal Palace line-ups
Everton: Olsen, Coleman, Holgate, Keane, Mina, Digne, Davies, Andre Gomes, James, Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison
Subs: Joao Virginia, Tyrer, Sigurdsson, King, Nkounkou, Godfrey, Gbamin, Broadhead, John
Crystal Palace: Guaita, Ward, Kouyate, Cahill, Van Aanholt, Ayew, Milivojevic, Riedewald, Eze, Benteke, Zaha
Subs: Butland, Dann, Townsend, Mateta, Batshuayi, Kelly, Hannam, Schlupp, Mitchell
Today’s match officials
- Referee: Kevin Friend.
- Assistants: Simon Bennett and Simon Beck.
- Fourth official: Andy Madley.
- VAR: Graham Scott.
- Assistant VAR: Mark Scholes.
Roy Hodgson speaks
Asked about Wilf Zaha’s decision to stop taking a pre-match knee and instead “stand tall and proud”, the Crystal Palace manager said he was impressed with his star winger’s stance.
“It’s been positive and seen in the right light as I hoped it would be and the credit should all go to Wilf,” he told reporters. “He’s had the courage to speak out. I saw an interview the other day with him, [Japhet] Tanganga and [Michail] Antonio - I thought how well they all spoke. How brilliantly they articulated what is obviously a problem for us.
“It can’t be right in 2021 that a guy playing football has to put up with racial abuse. We’re way past a time when we weren’t used to seeing black players playing football - you’d have to go back before my lifetime and the early years of my life.
“I think it’s great that they say what they’ve got to say and make it clear to everybody: ‘Look, you’re a fan of mine, you say you’re delighted to see me score goals for West Ham or Crystal Palace or defending so well for Tottenham Hotspur; why should I or colleagues of mine or people in the same situation as me suffer abuse at your hands? Just because they’re playing football?’ It’s ridiculous.”
Carlo Ancelotti speaks
“We have to work hard and sacrifice to do everything to be in Europe,” he told reporters in his pre-match chat. “I think it could be a good step forward, it could be a stamp on our season which until now is good but it could be fantastic if we are able to reach the place to play in Europe next season.
“The squad we are working on in the transfer market, we are going to work to improve the squad. This is for sure. If we are to play in Europe we are going to improve the squad, if we are not in Europe then we are going to improve the squad the same. It doesn’t change our idea.”
Early team news
Out since February’s Merseyside derby with a thigh injury, James Rodriguez is believed to be fighting fit and could feature today in place of Gylfi Sigurdsson or Alex Iwobi. An absentee since August 2019, when he jiggered his quiadricep muscle in only his second game for Everton only to later rupture his achilles, Jean-Philippe Gbamin has also been passed fit for duty.
Everton director of medical services, Danny Donachie, has described the Ivorian’s return to fitness as “one of the best moments of my working life.” In less good news for Everton, Jordan Pickford, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Fabien Delph are all sidelined.
For Palace, James MacArthur, Mamadou Sakho, James Tomkins and Nathan Ferguson will defintiely miss out, while there are doubts over the fitness of Nathaniel Clyne, James McCarthy, Tyrick Mitchell and Cheikou Kouyate.
Having publicly criticised Roy Hodgson for his lack of “trust” in him while on international duty with Belgium, Michy Batshuayi may also have talked himself out of contention for a place in today’s starting line-up or matchday squad.
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Premier League: Everton v Crystal Palace
With two games in hand over Chelsea in fourth place, wins in both would be enough to take Everton a point clear of Thomas Tuchel’s side and give Merseyside blues genuine hope of qualifying for next season’s Champions League. They are wonderfully poised but can they take advantage?
Sadly, Everton’s innate “Evertonness” means things are rarely that straightforward at Goodison Park. While a home fixture against a mid-table Crystal Palace side whose safety is as good as guaranteed is exactly the kind of game they should be winning comfortably, it is also one few among their faithful would be particularly surprised to see them lose.
Whether or not Carlo Ancelotti and his trusty lieutenant Duncan Ferguson have focussed the minds of their troops after the international break remains to be seen but we’ll find out soon enough. Kick-off at Goodison Park is at 6pm but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
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