Belgian duo Lukaku, Benteke strike as Everton, Palace draw
LIVERPOOL: Goals by Belgian international strikers Romelu Lukaku and Christian Benteke saw Everton and Crystal Palace draw 1-1 in their Premier League clash on Friday.
Lukaku struck with his fifth of the season in the first half before Benteke, who endured a disappointing spell at Liverpool before moving to Palace in the summer, levelled with a superb header in the second half.
The draw was enough for Everton to put an end to a two-match losing run in all competitions while Palace extended their unbeaten run to four games.
Everton manager Ronald Koeman was satisfied with the outcome.
“It’s a good point in the end. We defended set plays and second balls well against a difficult team,” the 53-year-old Dutchman told Sky Sports.
“The team performance was outstanding, although we’d like to create more opportunities.
“We’ve had a good start to the season. The position in the table is not everything at the moment and we need to improve, but we’re doing a good job.”
His Palace counterpart Alan Pardew was proud of the manner his players refused to be overwhelemd by early Everton dominance.
“They t ook t he l ead but we wouldn’t lie down and we did really well in the second half,” he said.
Lukaku broke the deadlock in the 36th minute, curling a pearler of a free-kick over the Palace wall, leaving Palace goalkeeper Steve Mandanda rooted to the spot for his fifth of the season.
The free-kick had been awarded in controversial circumstances as there was a suspicion Everton defender Phil Jagielka handled the ball before Palace’s veteran captain Damien Delaney raised his boot too high in the challenge.
Four minutes into the second half Palace were level as Benteke produced a superb header, from Joel Ward’s cross, to beat Maarten Stekelenburg for his third of the campaign.