Oliver Glasner felt the pain of defeat for the first time since 16 April. Channelled the right way and Crystal Palace will become a better team, claimed a manager with much to be positive about. But that pain, laced with disbelief at losing their 19-game unbeaten run against Everton, will sting for some time yet.
Glasner has worked wonders at Palace but improving his club’s miserable record against Everton proved a step too far. The visitors should have been celebrating a first win at Everton since 2014 but a lack of ruthlessness, a rare defensive lapse and a stirring finish from David Moyes’s side combined to shatter that aspiration. Jack Grealish’s somewhat fortunate 93rd-minute winner, his first Everton goal, secured an unlikely victory for the hosts after Iliman Ndiaye’s penalty had cancelled out Daniel Muñoz’s opener. Palace’s disbelieving players sank to their knees and rubbed their heads after seeing their proud unbeaten sequence vanish on the banks of the River Mersey. As well they might.
