This was no alluring advert for the beginning of the FA Cup third round.
A goalless draw between Crystal Palace and Everton was an apt scoreline for a match which had more hustle and bustle than it did rhythm.
The prize for these two is a replay in a fortnight, shortening their respective winter breaks and judged afterwards by Palace manager Roy Hodgson to be “the last thing either of us wanted”.
This drab draw did little to show Palace can do without Michael Olise. His brace helped the Eagles secure their first win since November 4 by beating Brentford 3-1 six days ago.
At times last weekend it felt as though Olise was on a one-man mission to end Palace’s eight-game winless run. Olise pulled up with a hamstring injury in stoppage time, though, and his absence last night was sorely felt.
The most eventful moment of the match came 11 minutes from time, when the VAR was called upon following a Dominic Calvert-Lewin tackle on Nathaniel Clyne.
Yes, Calvert-Lewin had raised his studs and caught Clyne rather than the ball, but there was neither power nor malicious intent in the tackle. But referee Chris Kavanagh was called to the pitchside VAR monitor and then dismissed the striker.
Palace still lacked the quality to force a late winner. Instead, the one clear positive note for them was the performance of Matheus Franca. The 19-year-old summer signing from Flamengo in Brazil ran at Everton whenever he could and showed an urgency his team-mates did not.
He was replaced after 71 minutes by fellow youngster Naouirou Ahamada.
“It was very difficult for both of them,” Hodgson said of Franca and his replacement. “If you’re the type of players they are, playing Everton is probably the last thing you want, because of their physicality and the need to be strong. That’s not the players they are. They are players who are technical and gifted.
“The sort of opportunities that came their way to show what they are good at were few and far between.”
