Crystal Palace (h) Into the great wide open
Rotation saw Holgate ‘rested’ and Michael Keane back in to partner Mina, the news was met with both surprise and trepidation. Bernard, Coleman and Schneiderlin also back in, but Holgate was the big news..
A relatively comfortable opening, Palace were intent on making the game all about attrition and playing off Benteke, pretty much the same as they always do when they come to Goodison, kick lumps out of us and then hit us on the break. Zaha showed early signs of his threat and he and Ayew linked up well off Benteke to cause overlaps. This was the Benteke who had been pretty anonymous for 18 months and not scored for 18 games....
Palace hit the post just from a scruffy corner, Pickford almost beaten at his near post again, he’s becoming a bit of a worry for me...is it a lack of competition or is he just going through a rough patch?
A resurgent and confident Theo Walcott went inside then outside just before the half hour and put a near perfect cross into the area between the 6 yard box and penalty spot, it cleared the leaping DCL only to land almost perfectly for the incoming Bernard to side foot passed Guaita. 1-0 and deserved. Sadly Walcott had to be replaced by Sidibe not long after.
Palace were still in this though, the returning James McCarthy’s early booking didn’t stop him from challenging Schneiderlin and Sigurdsson, he even took a corner? Talking about Schneiderlin, you have to give credit where it’s due, he was very good today. Committed and disciplined, but also showing his range of passing and not just backwards. Impressive. 1-0 HT, Everton upto 7th!!
Between minutes 45 to 58 Everton could have easily lost this game. Palace were first to everything, pinned Everton into their own half and bombarded the back four. Anxiety coming from the stands, the dug out and the players. Finally the equaliser came, and Palace deserved it, not necessarily from a spell of good play, but from Everton’s inability to get the initiative back that they had in the first half and from a awful error by Pickford. Palace breaking right through the centre of the pitch, Benteke receiving the ball running at an angle towards goal, hitting it directly at Pickford who somehow allowed the ball to go straight through him. The most softest of soft goals. 1-1 and murmurs of discontent with England’s number 1, not for the first time this season. It was always going to be Benteke or Zaha, that’s just football.
Palace now had real impetus to get their first win since boxing day and continued to press, but on 58 minutes Everton cleared the ball down the left, DCL flicking on just before the halfway line to release Richarlison. Now without getting carried away, in real time I described this goal as one that the real Ronaldo would score so often. A slight diagonal run, holding off defenders whilst keeping the ball within a foot of him, then curling a low shot into the far post before the keeper had time to set. What a player he is, what a game changer he is. 2-1 Majestically.
The life and belief almost immediately retuned to Goodison, the feeling of ‘getting out of jail’ was very prevalent. Palace came again, and such is the bipolar form of Pickford he saved point blank from Benteke who was 6 yards out and unmarked. It was a save that makes you question how can Pickford be so up and down when he’s capable of such high calibre saves?
Bernard and Sigurdsson off, Davies and Holgate on, Carlo going 4-5-1 and shutting up shop for the winter break. Palace where gone now, 19th place in the league for expected goals and once they went 2-1 down you could sense the energy leave them. They’d not scored over 2 goals in a league game all season and once DCL had tapped in for 3-1 after a Digne corner being headed onto the crossbar by Richarlison there would be repeat of the Newcastle debacle. 3-1 FT.
At times it wasn’t great, Everton were better in the big moments, just as we were last week at Watford.
There are ongoing concerns in midfield and Pickford in particular, but maybe the winter break will provide time for refocus, it will also seen the return of Andre Gomes!
So into the european mix we go, 5th to 7th is wide open and we are legitimately in with a chance of achieving what was almost an impossibility just over two months ago, how times and fortune have changed since Ancelotti has had these players. He has shown that you don’t have to win spectacularly or pretty, you just have to win or at worse not lose.
Enjoy the winter break, you can’t say we don’t deserve it!!
COYB, UTFT💙
