Amadou Onana’s header denies Crystal Palace and salvages point for Everton

Premier League: Everton 1 Crystal Palace 1

The manner of his arrival as Crystal Palace manager was unfortunate, to put it mildly, but Oliver Glasner will have drawn encouragement from his first view of Roy Hodgson’s former team as they earned a valuable draw at fellow strugglers Everton at Goodison Park. The point and the performance was of far more help to the visitors than Sean Dyche’s toiling team.

Jordan Ayew swept Palace into a fine lead in front of the former Eintracht Frankfurt head coach but a late header from Everton substitute Amadou Onana salvaged a point for the badly out-of-form hosts. The point took Everton out of the relegation zone on goal difference from Luton Town, who have played a game fewer, but they will need a vast improvement to stay out of it regardless of the outcome of their appeal against a 10-point deduction.

The new Palace manager was sat alongside chairman Steve Parish in the Goodison directors’ box having been confirmed as Hodgson’s successor shortly before kick-off. His predecessor’s coaches, Ray Lewington and Paddy McCarthy, took charge of this contest as planned when the former England manager fell ill on Friday. There was a switch to a three-man central defence from the visitors with Daniel Muñoz and Tyrick Mitchell stretching Everton as wing backs.

Glasner’s first impressions of English football were deeply unattractive. The two recent FA Cup ties between the teams had lowered expectations for their fourth meeting of the season and it lived down to them. The first half consisted mainly of Everton launching one long ball after another in the general direction of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Palace centre halves Joel Ward, Joachim Andersen and Chris Richards absorbing them with ease. There was no plan B from Dyche’s team.

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There was encouragement for the new Palace manager in respect of the visitors’ defensive strength and organisation. Palace also had the better chances of a dreadful first half but poor finishing and a goal-line clearance reprieved Everton.

Odsonne Édouard shot straight at Jordan Pickford when well-placed and in space on the left of the Everton penalty area and Jefferson Lerma sliced an inviting chance over after being teed up by Muñoz. Jean-Philippe Mateta did go close to ending the stalemate with a back-post header from Adam Wharton’s deep corner only for Ashley Young to hack clear on the line.

Everton’s pre-match hopes of improvement centred on the return of leading goalscorer Abdoulaye Doucouré, making only his second appearance since the team’s last league win on December 16th due to hamstring trouble. Doucouré volleyed the home side’s first opportunity wide from a Ward clearance but was otherwise anonymous as Dyche’s aerial game passed him by.

He was involved in Everton’s brightest moment before the break, releasing Dwight McNeil in space down the left for a cross that Calvert-Lewin headed well wide despite getting in front of Richards. It was the finish of a striker low on confidence after 18 games without a goal.

In fairness to the Everton centre forward he was far too isolated to have a meaningful impact. Calvert-Lewin was not only expected to win the first ball but the second too. It was grim fare, and Everton’s lack of quality in possession and tendency to go backwards with it proved a severe test of Goodison’s limited patience. One minute of added-on time at the end of the first half represented a small mercy.

The interval instructions brought no change in the pattern of the game. Everton continued to squander possession cheaply and Palace remained the more threatening side. Jarrad Branthwaite, who endured a tough night against the powerful Mateta, escaped when appearing to clip the forward’s heels as he broke into the penalty area.

Mateta also made light work of James Tarkowski’s attentions and put Mitchell through on goal after holding off the Everton captain. Pickford was off his line smartly to smother the wing-back’s attempted chip with his chest. Édouard sent an acrobatic overhead kick high into the Park End stand when Wharton again caused problems for the home defence with a corner to the back post.

The course of the game, and potentially of the two clubs’ respective relegation battles, appeared to have been shaped by two contrasting moments in the space of two minutes midway through the second half. Everton should have taken the lead through Doucouré but instead found themselves trailing to a superb finish from Ayew. Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone was instrumental in both.

Johnstone made a point-blank save to prevent Tarkowski heading home a McNeil corner at close range. The rebound fell to Idrissa Gane Gueye who dragged a shot across goal but into the path of his fellow midfielder, standing all alone at the back post. Doucouré, seemingly taken by surprise, scuffed a gilt-edged chance from four yards out and the lack of power in the shot enabled Johnstone to claw the ball to safety just in front of the line.

Seconds later the Palace goalkeeper launched a goal-kick deep into Everton territory where Édouard headed on to Mateta. The French forward held off Branthwaite and newly-introduced substitute Onana to find Ayew, who broke forward to send an emphatic drive into Pickford’s far corner from outside the box.

Everton were staring at a calamitous defeat with Calvert-Lewin heading another good chance wide from a McNeil cross and Johnstone pushing away a shot from James Garner. From the resulting corner, however, swung in by McNeil, Onana soared above the Palace goalkeeper and headed in a vital equaliser from close range. – Guardian

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