Nick Ames was at Selhurst Park tonight. His verdict is in, and here it is. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!
Roy Hodgson talks to ITV. “It was a missed opportunity in the last ten or 15 minutes when we were playing against ten men but over the whole of the game both teams defended pretty well … it was a game of few chances … both teams worked very hard to stop the other team … if you look at it philosophically, those sort of games end nil-nil or a win for one team through a moment of magic … we didn’t have that today unfortunately … they deserved their draw … we face a replay that neither I nor Sean would have wanted before the game … I don’t know if I can understand [VAR decisions] these days … I don’t know what to make of it … a lot of people who played in the past would say that’s not a red card … but people playing recently would say it was because of the way the studs were up and he was leading with a straight leg … it’s unfortunate because it wasn’t a vicious foul … if the decision was red, so be it, but I’m not prepared to come out and say definitely it was or wasn’t … it’s a modern-day situation.”
Sean Dyche speaks to ITV. “There’s a lot of satisfaction … we’re back on our top performance levels … even when we went down to ten the mentality was excellent … slow-mo shows a different picture … if you’re going to slow-mo things then you’ve gotta slow-mo the penalty on Beto … Andersen clearly has his arms around him … there’s contact, there’s minor contact … we’ll double-check [the red-card appeal process] … [Dwight McNeil] is OK and we’ll just let that settle down … we took the game on all night … we look forward to the replay without a doubt.”
Everton captain Seamus Coleman talks to ITV. “Coming away here is always a tough game … a great atmosphere … a tough game … going down to ten men made it more difficult but our resilience this year has been much better … I never felt like we were going to concede … we stuck together … when you slow [the Calvert-Lewin challenge] down it’s going to look worse but from where I was it’s a great tackle … it’s a big talking point but for me it’s not a red card … another decision that goes against us that won’t get talked about much … [the injured McNeil] has been massive for us so we’re hoping it’s not too bad … his commitment has been different class … we had a few late chances to win it and on another day we put them away … we’re disappointed not to get a result … a special mention to all them Everton fans who came down here on a Thursday night and I don’t know how they’re going to get back but their support is second to none and we appreciate it.”
Post-match postbag. “That is a nonsensical decision. Bewildering” – Stephen Carr
“There seems to be a prevailing wisdom of ‘no blood, no foul’ with challenges like that. But just because he didn’t connect, doesn’t mean it wasn’t a bad challenge. The game should be discouraging stuff like that so I think erring on the side of a red is entirely reasonable” – Evan Crocker
“MoM Andersen fouls Beto. Arms all round him. No pen. No one says a dickie bird. Ha! And why wasn’t Hughes carded? I’m a bit frustrated. Everton have played quite well.” – David Cross
One third-round match down, another 31 to go; hopefully they’ll all be a bit better than that. Neither side deserved to win, so Everton will be the happier of the two teams, as they’ll host a replay in a couple of weeks. There’s an obvious double-asterisk to Everton’s pleasure, of course, with Dwight McNeil injured and Dominic Calvert-Lewin having been sent packing for catching Nathaniel Clyne with his studs as he followed through with a slide tackle. It wasn’t the fiercest of challenges, but you can see why the red card was awarded. Expect Sean Dyche to mount a staunch defence arguing otherwise.
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FULL TIME: Crystal Palace 0-0 Everton
To Goodison!
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90 min +8: Eze rasps a shot towards the bottom right. It’s heading wide but Virginia takes no chances, tipping around the post. Nothing comes of the resulting corner. The ten men have nearly done enough to take Palace back to Goodison.
90 min +7: Up the other end, Hughes tries to prod goalwards from the middle of a crowded box, but the ball bobbles through to the keeper, who slides along the wet turf to claim. What’s his name? Virginia Aquaplane.
90 min +6: On ITV, Lucy Ward names Joachim Andersen as her player of the match. Down on the pitch, Beto goes down in the box with Andersen’s arms around his waist, but neither referee nor VAR show interest in awarding a dramatic penalty.
90 min +5: Ahamada drives down the right and wins a corner off Mykolenko. Eze delivers, but Onana batters clear.
90 min +4: Mitchell grinds down the left and wins a corner off Garner. Virginia may have something to do now … but once again Palace can’t deliver a killer ball. Everton again clear without too much drama.
90 min +3: A free kick for Palace out on the left. It’s hoicked into the mixer. Everton clear their lines. Virginia hasn’t had much to do this evening.
90 min +2: “I know the grass may be greasy and players may slide further, but in what universe is sliding in from three yards away with the foot raised making contact with the shin not reckless?” asks Andy ‘Not That One’ Flintoff. “Clyne is lucky it was a glancing blow rather than a full on hit, otherwise that would have hurt.”
90 min: Harrison lashes a dropping ball over the bar from the edge of the Palace box. There will be nine added minutes. Meanwhile McNeil is carried around the perimeter of the pitch, and receives a warm ovation from both sets of fans.
89 min: Gomes comes on for the stricken McNeil, who is still being treated behind the goal. The stretcher has been called for, and his sock has been cut off, all of which looks ominous. No replay to see how he came a cropper, which is probably just as well. A suggestion on ITV that he may have gone over his ankle, but nothing is certain, other than the player being lifted onto the stretcher.
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88 min: McNeil pulls his shirt over his face. He’s in pain and doesn’t look likely to continue.
87 min: Nothing comes of the corner, other than a booking for Mateta, who thinks McNeil has gone down to waste time. Coleman isn’t happy with Mateta’s inference, given that McNeil, off the pitch, looks in genuine discomfort.
86 min: Andersen lumps forward. Eze telescopes a leg to bring the ball down from the sky, then shoots goalwards. Tarkowski slides in to deflect out for a corner.
85 min: Palace make a double change, with a view to winning the tie this evening against ten men. Clyne and Lerma are replaced by Edouard and Ozoh.
83 min: Onana feeds Beto down the right. Beto sweeps a low cross into the box, and Garner meets it on the spot … only to lean back and send the ball into orbit. A huge chance for Everton!
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82 min: Sean Dyche is livid, as one would expect. On ITV4, Lucy Ward doesn’t think it was a red card. Neither do the Everton fans, who are singing the You’re Not Fit song at the referee. Meanwhile on the field, Ahamada creams a low diagonal drive inches wide of the left-hand post. Palace with the wind behind all of a sudden.
80 min: Everton were trying to take Calvert-Lewin off, as well. Beto still comes on, but now it’s Danjuma who makes way for the ten men.
RED CARD: Calvert-Lewin (Everton)
79 min: The referee draws a screen in the air, then shows a bemused Calvert-Lewin the red card. It’s soft, and you can make a case for it either way, but if you fly into a challenge with studs showing, you’re giving the referee a decision to make. That’s the first red card of Calvert-Lewin’s career.
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78 min: Yep, VAR calls the referee over to the screen. There’s definitely studs-on-shin action. Studs up. Not much contact … but contact. This looks like trouble for Calvert-Lewin.
77 min: VAR is taking a look at the Calvert-Lewin challenge on Clyne. It was a determined slide for the ball, with studs showing. He connected with Clyne’s shin, albeit lightly. Still, you’ve seen red cards given for this. The striker could be in bother here.
76 min: Calvert-Lewin battles to win possession from Clyne 30 yards from the Palace goal. With the hosts light at the back, and Danjuma free to his right, a goal looks on. But Calvert-Lewin doesn’t spot the pass, and the chance is gone.
74 min: Onana tries to release Calvert-Lewin clear through the middle. The ball breaks right to Danjuma, just inside the Palace box. He slaps a shot straight at Henderson. For a split second there, an Everton goal looked on. But that’s a poor finish.
73 min: Onana goes down. Some treatment. Then he gets back up.
71 min: Mykolenko strides in from the left and feeds Harrison, who drags a shot wide right from distance. Palace then make the first changes of the evening, sending on Hughes and Ahamada for Franca and Schlupp.
69 min: Another busy run by McNeil, down the left again. He spins and dinks a cross into the mixer. Henderson comes through a crowded box to punch clear. Palace are struggling to keep hold of the ball and get out of their final third.
68 min: McNeil starts an Everton attack down the left by selling Franca an outrageous dummy. He releases Harrison, whose cross is no good. But it’s Everton who look the more likely right now, even if that bar is set low.
67 min: The resulting corner is headed harmlessly over the bar by Onana.
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66 min: Lerma pelts down the left only to be unceremoniously stopped on the edge of the box by Branthwaite. The hosts want a free kick, but they’re not getting one, and Everton counter. Mykolenko crosses low from the left. Andersen slices behind for a corner. Before it can be taken, Palace enquire whether VAR is looking at the challenge up the other end, but there’s nothing too much wrong with it.
64 min: A corner for Everton down the left. Garner swings it in. Henderson flaps, and is fortunate not to divert the ball into the top-right corner of his own net. The ball sails wide right and nothing comes of the next corner. Selhurst Park is quiet right now, the result of the distinct lack of entertainment on offer.
62 min: A loose ball in midfield luckily deflects into the path of Calvert-Lewin, who scampers off down the inside-left channel. He enters the area and opens his body in an attempt to steer across Henderson and into the bottom right. A dismal scuff is easily gathered by the keeper. That was a decent chance, albeit one gifted rather than earned.
60 min: … but nevertheless, it’s a chance for Palace to loop the free kick into the box. It’s hit long. Andersen competes at the far stick, but Virginia punches clear.
59 min: Schlupp drops a shoulder and nearly gets past Onana on the left touchline. He’s unceremoniously brought down. Onana, a repeat offender this evening, is surely just one more challenge away from a booking.
58 min: In the technical areas, Roy Hodgson and Sean Dyche sigh and frown and mutter under their breath. Neither manager happy with the fare their team is serving up.
56 min: McNeil crosses from the left. Too high for Calvert-Lewin. This match is developing into one for the purists.
54 min: Mitchell attempts to release Lerma down the left. An easy pass. Clank. Straight out of play. So much for the half sparking into life.
52 min: Franca bursts down the right and nearly gets the better of Mykolenko on the outside. Nearly, but not quite. Goal kick.
51 min: From the resulting corner, Lerma aims a header goalwards from distance. Easy for Virginia.
50 min: … but that’s sparked the half belatedly into life, and Palace go up the other end, Eze sending a rising screamer towards the top right. Virginia tips around the post.
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49 min: Harrison crosses from the right. Danjuma can’t control on the edge of the box, but the ball’s shuttled left to Garner, who attempts a curler towards the top-right corner. High and wide.
48 min: … and other than that, it’s a thoroughly nondescript start to the second period. A reminder that, should this game remain goalless after regulation time, it’ll be a replay at Goodison Park.
46 min: Franca cuts in from the right and attempts to release Mateta into the box with a cute reverse pass down the channel. Too much juice. Goal kick.
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Crystal Palace get the second half underway. No changes.
Half-time entertainment.
HALF TIME: Crystal Palace 0-0 Everton
Nil-nil seems about right.
45 min +1: Clyne releases Franca into space down the right. He enters the box and fizzes the ball through the six-yard box … but there’s nobody in limited-edition blue, white and red to poke home. Everton hack clear.
45 min: There will be one additional first-half minute.
43 min: A loose ball in the middle of the park. Schlupp’s improvised header forward nearly releases Mateta down the middle. He’d be through were it not for the tenacious Coleman, who slides across to shovel the ball back to Virginia. That’s fine last-ditch defending.
41 min: Lerma and Onana compete for a high ball, the latter coming off second best when they clash. Sean Dyche’s eyebrows get angular again.
40 min: Up the other end, Garner latches onto Andersen’s half-clearance, and rasps a low drive goalwards. Andersen gets back to block, and Henderson was almost certainly covering behind anyway. But that was hit with some feeling. Garner’s been a fine signing for Everton.
39 min: Palace put together their best move of the match. Mitchell steams in from the left. His low pass across the face of the Everton box is dummied by Mateta for Eze, who spins and tees up the in-rushing Lerma. A first-time shot flies handsomely over the bar. Had Lerma kept his cool, that could have been a fine goal.
38 min: Some pinball in the centre of the park. Suddenly the ball twangs into space down the Everton left … but Calvert-Lewin can’t get to it before Henderson scampers off his line to claim.
36 min: Mykolenko crosses from the left. Calvert-Lewin meets it, but can only head harmlessly wide left. Yep, this match is decent enough, until both teams reach the final third.
35 min: Onana comes through the back of Lerma in the midfield and is fortunate the referee misses the challenge. Mateta races off down the left anyway and wins a corner. From the set piece, there’s a bit of sustained Palace pressure, ending when Schlupp dinks a cross from a tight position on the left, the ball looping over Virginia before being hacked away by Tarkowski. Better from Palace.
33 min: Branthwaite finds Coleman in acres down the right with a long pass, but the latter has carelessly – and needlessly - found himself miles offside. On the opposite touchline, Sean Dyche frowns, and frowns hard.
32 min: Everton stroke it about to little effect. But at least they’ve got Palace running some hard yards.
30 min: Franca tries to dribble his way past Mykolenko but the right-back is too wily for the teenager and shepherds the ball out for a goal kick. Franca offers a sheepish wave of apology to Lerma, who had found him in the first place with a lovely crossfield pass. What a nice young man.
28 min: This game’s not great … but it’s not bad either. Both teams continue to press forward at pace and with proper attacking intent. It’s just the final-third quality that’s lacking. So far.
26 min: … but what a run that was by Franca. Slightly surprised Tarkowski didn’t go into the book for the brazen check. Everton go up the other end through Danjuma, who earns yet another corner with a power run down the left. Garner swings it in low, and the ball goes through everyone. It’s scuffed, but about to squeak into the bottom left before Henderson hacks off his line, just in time.
25 min: The free kick’s just inside the Everton D, by the right-hand edge. Eze takes and blazes a load of nonsense high into the stand behind. What a waste. On the touchline, Roy Hodgson quietly seethes.
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24 min: Guehi backheels his way out of trouble near his own box, then combines with Eze gracefully before play is switched to the other flank. Franca takes up possession and drives infield in a very exciting manner, before running slap-bang into Tarkowski just inside the D. A free kick in a very dangerous position.
22 min: Tarkowski wallops a long pass down the right to release Calvert-Lewin, only for the flag to go up for offside. That was tight, and Calvert-Lewin doesn’t look too pleased about the linesman’s hair-trigger flag.
21 min: One corner leads to another, and Henderson claims the second, but only after flapping and dropping, then recovering the loose bouncing ball. Everton look very much the more likely right now.
20 min: … and here’s yet another, as Harrison slides Danjuma into space down the inside-left flank. Danjuma shoots fiercely, and Henderson tips over for a corner.
19 min: Onana pings a Garneresque pass towards Coleman out on the right. Coleman’s cross is a wild one, the ball sailing off towards Sainsbury’s, but that’s another decent attack.
18 min: Everton are beginning to get on top, and their travelling support accordingly bring the noise. The home fans grumble as Palace struggle to retain any possession.
17 min: Garner starts an attack with a glorious creamed diagonal pass towards McNeil on the right. Play’s then switched to the left flank, where Danjuma shoots from a tight angle. The shot deflects out for a corner, from which nothing comes … but that was the first coherent attack of the evening.
15 min: It’s all a bit scrappy. Both teams are trying to get on the front foot, but with little accuracy in the passing, neither are succeeding. Still, the energy’s high and at least everyone’s willing.
13 min: Eze drops a shoulder and tries to round Onana on the left. He goes over. He wants a free kick, but he’s getting booked for simulation instead. Replays show he was certainly looking for it, going down extremely easily, the cheeky scamp.
11 min: Danjuma certainly has the beating of Clyne down the Everton left. Off he zips again. He’s still to sort his crossing out, though. Everton come again with Tarkowski passing long down the middle. Calvert-Lewin battles in the Palace box but is crowded out easily by a combination of Guehi and Andersen. Henderson claims.
9 min: Andersen hoicks long for Lerma down the left, but the latter can’t get past Everton’s returning captain Coleman. It’s still raining hard, and both teams are taking a while to find their range.
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7 min: During the pre-match interview, Roy Hodgson spoke of his hopes that the 19-year-old Franca will give the crowd some Olise-Eze-Zaha-style thrills. Well, the way he stuns Henderson’s long pass into submission here is a good start. The crowd enjoyed that moment of technical excellence. The ball he lays off to Eze isn’t half bad either, even if the move goes no further.
5 min: Danjuma attacks Clyne down the left and gets the better of his opponent. The cross that follows is no good, but that’s some early encouragement for the Everton attacker.
3 min: Lerma improvises a half-volleyed pass down the left channel for Schlupp, who aims for the bottom right. The bobbling effort is no bother to Virginia.
2 min: All Everton in the very early stages. Onana tries to release Harrison down the inside-left channel but overcooks the pass and it’s a goal kick.
Everton get the game underway. It’s still raining.
The teams are out! A fine atmosphere at Selhurst, as there so often is. The home fans feeling Glad All Over. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.
Roy Hodgson talks to ITV. “Unfortunately the person who was the main protagonist in the win over Brentford, Michael Olise, we can’t use him tonight because of the muscle injury he picked up … but it’s a great opportunity for Franca to show what he can do … and we’ve lost Jordan Ayew to the Africa Cup of Nations … but apart from that we’ve got the same team … what we consider our best team … and I see Everton have done the same, so we’ve certainly shown a lot of respect to the competition.”
Pre-match postbag. “For Everton fans it’s the next chance to win something. Unfortunately their best recent chance to win a trophy may have expired when Amadou Onana decided to take one of the worst penalties I’ve ever seen against Fulham two weeks ago, but four wins gets them to Wembley, and one never knows. So here’s hoping they put together a performance resembling the one that garnered them all three points at Selhurst Park in November. (And though I don’t think they’ll get relegated either, let’s not tempt fate)” – Matt Burtz
“May I be the first of many thousands of your readers to point out that the Blessed Roy taking Fulham to the 2010 Europa League final is at least the equivalent of many of the baubles won by more moneyed enterprises” – Richard Hirst
“Why on earth is this game being played on a Thursday night? Not right that. On the basis that Palace’s shirt looks like a Carlisle United kit and Everton’s looks terrible (five minutes’ work by a work experience kid in the design department surely), I’ll root for the home side tonight” – Matt Hockey
So yes, on that subject, Crystal Palace will be wearing a special limited-edition shirt tonight. Blue with a red-and-white diagonal sash. Only 1,000 have been made, and the money they raise will go to the Palace for Life foundation. Everton meanwhile are sporting their Danish-Dynamite-on-a-1950s-telly third strip; to be fair, it’s nicer than Matt and I are making it sound.
Sean Dyche talks to ITV. “It’s a cup game tonight so we want to take that on … we’ve played very well in games … we have been stretched but we’re getting bodies back, some for tonight and some moving forwards … we’ve tried to add a bit of freshness … a fresh edge after what was a tough day last time out … this is the end of a busy period and we want to finish on a high note today … it is torrential here [rain has been lashing down non-stop at Selhurst Park for the best part of five hours] but hopefully the pitch will play well.”
Some retro MBM action while we wait. Here’s what happened the last time both clubs reached the final. Whether any supporters wish to relive those matches is a moot point at best, but the option’s there if anyone fancies a spot of catharsis.
Here’s some news that promises much for tonight’s game: both managers name strong sides.
Palace make two changes to the XI that started the 3-1 win over Brentford. Both are enforced. Arsenal and Manchester United target Michael Olise has a hamstring issue, while Jordan Ayew is off to the Africa Cup of Nations with Ghana. Matheus França and Jeffrey Schlupp take their places.
Everton make three changes to the team that slumped to a 3-0 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers. João Virgínia replaces Jordan Pickford in goal, while Séamus Coleman and Arnaut Danjuma come in for Nathan Patterson and Michael Keane, who like Pickford drop to the bench.
The teams
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell, Lerma, Richards, Eze, Matheus Franca, Mateta, Schlupp.
Subs: Tomkins, Hughes, Edouard, Ebiowei, Ahamada, Matthews, Riedewald, Adaramola, Ozoh.
Everton: Virginia, Coleman, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Garner, Onana, Harrison, Danjuma, McNeil, Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Pickford, Patterson, Keane, Beto, Andre Gomes, Godfrey, Chermiti, Hunt, Dobbin.
Referee: Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire).
Your Palace XI in the @EmiratesFACup 😍#CPFC | #CRYEVE
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) January 4, 2024
Tonight's Toffees! 👊#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/78yHwVYzmJ
— Everton (@Everton) January 4, 2024
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Preamble
Roy Hodgson and Everton Football Club. Two long-running footballing institutions that have seen better days, winning just one major trophy apiece since the start of the 1990s. (The 2000-01 Danish Superliga and the 1995 FA Cup, since you ask.) That’s a lot of effort for very little return. But something’s got to give at some point, so why not now? Given neither Crystal Palace nor Everton are going to get themselves relegated this season, a proper tilt at football’s grandest old competition is surely in order. Here’s hoping both Hodgson and Sean Dyche go for it, name strong sides, and serve up a third-round classic that could – you gotta dream – send the winner off on inexorable journey towards drought-quenching Wembley glory. Kick off is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!
