The manner of his arrival as Crystal Palace manager was unfortunate, to put it mildly, but Oliver Glasner will have drawn encouragement from his first glimpse of Roy Hodgson’s old team at Goodison Park. Palace were worthy of at least a point against a regressing Everton, who need all the help they can get from their appeal against a 10-point deduction to stave off another relegation ordeal.
Sean Dyche believed the presence of the new Palace manager galvanised the visitors, who led through a superb Jordan Ayew shot and were on course for a first win at Goodison in almost 10 years only for the substitute Amadou Onana to rescue Everton late on. The draw took Everton out of the relegation zone on goal difference ahead of Luton, who have played a game fewer, but performance-wise they are going backwards.
Dyche’s team remain heavily reliant on set pieces for goals – Onana’s equaliser was their 10th goal from a corner this season – and are now eight games without a win in the Premier League. At home against a Palace team that has suffered a managerial ordeal in the past few days, along with 11 defeats in their previous 18 matches, Everton served up a dreadful display. The manager’s attempt to talk it up was another concern. “Oh no,” said Dyche when asked whether this represented a missed opportunity. “It is another point on the board. We’ve just popped out of the relegation zone as well. Now we wait on the 10 points [verdict], but no I haven’t heard anything yet.”
Positives were the preserve of Palace. Glasner sat alongside the chairman, Steve Parish, in the Goodison directors’ box having been confirmed as Hodgson’s successor shortly before kick-off. His predecessor’s coaches, Ray Lewington and Paddy McCarthy, took charge as planned when the former England manager fell ill on Friday. There was a switch to a three-man central defence from the visitors with Daniel Muñoz and Tyrick Mitchell stretching Everton as wing-backs.
Glasner’s first impressions of English football were deeply unattractive. The two recent FA Cup ties between the teams had lowered expectations for their fourth meeting of the season and the first half certainly lived down to them. It consisted mainly of Everton launching one long ball after another in the general direction of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Palace centre-halves Joel Ward, Joachim Andersen and Chris Richards absorbing them with ease. There was no plan B from Dyche’s team.
The visitors’ defensive strength and organisation will have enthused the former Eintracht Frankfurt coach. Palace also had the better chances of a dreadful first half but poor finishing and a goalline clearance reprieved Everton. Odsonne Édouard shot straight at Jordan Pickford and Jefferson Lerma sliced an inviting chance over after being teed up by Muñoz. Jean-Philippe Mateta did go close with a back-post header from Adam Wharton’s deep corner only for Ashley Young to hack clear on the line.
Everton’s pre-match hopes centred on the return of leading goalscorer Abdoulaye Doucouré, making only his second appearance since the team’s last league win on 16 December due to hamstring trouble. Doucouré was largely anonymous although released Dwight McNeil for Everton’s brightest moment before the break, when Calvert-Lewin headed the winger’s inviting cross wide. It was the finish of a striker low on confidence and now without a goal in 19 games.
In fairness to the Everton centre-forward he was far too isolated to have a meaningful impact. Calvert-Lewin was not only expected to win the first ball but the second too. It was grim fare, and Everton’s lack of quality in possession and tendency to go backwards with it proved a severe test of Goodison’s limited patience. One minute of added time at the end of the first half represented a small mercy.
Jarrad Branthwaite, who endured a tough night against the powerful Mateta, escaped when appearing to clip the forward’s heels as he broke into the area. Mateta also made light work of James Tarkowski’s attentions and put Mitchell through on goal after holding off the Everton captain. Pickford was off his line smartly to smother the wing-back’s attempted chip.
The course of the game appeared to have been shaped by two contrasting moments in two second half minutes. Everton should have taken the lead through Doucouré but instead found themselves trailing to Ayew’s precision strike. The Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone was instrumental in both. Johnstone made a point-blank save to prevent Tarkowski heading home a McNeil corner. The rebound fell to Idrissa Gueye who dragged a shot across goal and into the path of his fellow midfielder. Doucouré, all alone at the back post, scuffed a gilt-edged chance from four yards out and Johnstone clawed the ball to safety just in front of the line.
Seconds later the Palace keeper launched a goal-kick deep into Everton territory where Édouard headed on to Mateta. The French forward held off Branthwaite to find Ayew, who sent an emphatic drive into Pickford’s far corner from outside the box. Everton were staring at a calamitous defeat with Calvert-Lewin heading another good chance wide from a McNeil cross and Johnstone pushing away a James Garner shot. From the resulting corner, however, swung in by McNeil, Onana soared above the Palace goalkeeper and headed in a vital equaliser from close range.
