A second match of the week saw high-flying Crystal Palace visit the Hill Dickinson Stadium armed with a 19-game unbeaten run. A win for the visitors would not only stretch their impressive record but lift them up to second place. However, the Blues are unbeaten themselves at their new ground, albeit with a much smaller sample size. With Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall forced to sit out due to suspension in dubious circumstances, David Moyes called upon Tyler Dibling and Thierno Barry in a reshuffle.
Crystal Palace had been in away European action midweek, but there was certainly no fatigue on show as the visitors started strongly, instantly putting Everton under pressure with direct play and set pieces. An early throw was launched in by Chris Richards and caused issues for the defence, as Marc Guehi managed to poke the ball towards the target, only for Jordan Pickford to deny the Eagles an early lead. Palace continued to impose themselves and oozed confidence by playing around Everton’s press with ease, Tyler Wharton, the conductor. Tyrick Mitchell had the first real clean effort on goal, with a vicious strike onto the post. Only a minute later, Jean-Philippe Mateta received the ball in space and swept a shot down to Pickford’s left. England’s number one got down quickly to save once again, as the fans grew frustrated with the increasing momentum of the visitors. Finally, Everton managed to create an opportunity, as James Garner’s teasing cross looked to have found Barry, only for the young Frenchman to miss the ball completely after getting ahead of his defender.
Undeterred from the home side’s opportunity, Crystal Palace continued to dominate and capitalized shortly before half time. James Tarkowski pressed high in an attempt to win the ball, only for the lively Pino to turn the captain easily. The ball found Ismaïla Sarr, as the winger had the freedom of the pitch. Vitaliy Mykolenko was forced to gravitate towards the ball, leaving Daniel Muñoz all alone in the 18-yard box, and he kept his effort low, under Pickford and into the net. With a deserved lead, Palace headed towards the tunnel full of confidence, with Everton needing a rethink at the break.
Moyes wasted no time, turning to Beto and Carlos Alcaraz as he hoped his team would show more impetus in the second half. The changes certainly gave the Blues a lift, although Crystal Palace continued where they left off, with calm midfielders and lively wingers causing mayhem for the struggling home defence. Two glaring opportunities came Mateta’s way in the space of a few minutes. His first was created by Tarkowski, as his poor control led the towering forward to run through on goal. His delicate chip was only denied by the backtracking O’Brien. His second came as Sarr ran behind Everton’s backline. Pickford rushed out to meet him and did enough to stall for time as the defenders rushed back. His eventual effort was blocked and fell into the path of Mateta, unmarked, yards from goal. His scuffed left-footed shot dribbled past the post.
Everton were withering, in desperate need of a catalyst. Alcaraz had his audition, as he latched on to a ball not dealt with by the away defence on the edge of the box. The Argentine headed the ball onwards and stung the palms of Dean Henderson on the half-volley. The crowd reacted, but it was Pino who really got them going. His reluctance to step away from a free-kick started a chain reaction, leading to three yellow cards and around 48,000 angry Scousers. This, in turn, gave the home side a new lease of life, and as Tim Iroegbunam — introduced in place of the injured Michael Keane — sprayed the ball wide and ran towards the box, Mykolenko found him and forced Maxime Lacroix to bring him down. After the resulting penalty was coolly slotted home by Ndiaye, it was a game of next goal wins. Everton were in the ascendancy, and despite an hour of dominance from Palace, it was the men in blue who found the golden touch. Mykolenko’s cross ricocheted towards Alcaraz, who fed Ndiaye down the right. His clever movement allowed space to float the ball towards the onrushing Beto. A mere five yards from goal, his header was miraculously saved by Henderson, only for Muñoz’s clearance to be closed down by Jack Grealish and diverted into the roof of the net. Cue bedlam.
As Moyes himself admitted, Everton were fortunate not to find themselves three goals down in this match; however, with the raucous sound reminiscent of Goodison Park, along with some effective substitutions, the Toffees entered the second international break with all three points.
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