MICHY TAKER
Batshuayi strike dents Carlo’s Europe hopes
EVERTON better find some home form soon or European trips next season will be about as likely as summer holidays in a global pandemic.
Michy Batshuayi grabbed a late leveller for Crystal Palace within two minutes of coming off the bench to cancel out James Rodriguez’s 56thminute strike.
It’s now just four points at Goodison Park for Carlo Ancelotti’s side in 2021 and they only had themselves to blame last night as their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League took a huge hit.
It looked like Rodriguez
(celebrating, right) had done enough to earn them three points.
But while the man nicknamed ‘Batsman’ levelled for the Eagles, the real hero was their keeper Vicente Guaita who made a number of big saves.
Ancelotti said: “We were not able to kill the game when we had the opportunities.
“We had a lot of chances which we didn’t have in the last games. In the past our strikers would be more clinical but tonight they could be better.”
Last week, on international duty, Batshuayi said he did not feel like boss Roy Hodgson trusts him.
But Hodgson turned to the Belgium striker in the 84th minute and, less than 120 seconds later, he fired home. The Palace boss said: “He scored a goal which is very important – he has got to be very pleased with that.
“When players go on international duty and have just scored against Belarus, it would be surprising if he didn’t say the comments he made when asked about his club.
“He has come back in good spirits, he has contributed well in training and he gave me the faith to put him on and he repaid that faith.”
Rodriguez stepped up on his return from injury after Seamus Coleman dragged the ball back and he found the bottom corner. Dominic Calvert-lewin then squandered a second one-on-one chance while Richarlison saw efforts superbly saved by Guaita either side of Batshuayi’s equaliser.
Jeffrey Schlupp slid the ball out to the supersub and he fired across goal into the bottom corner.
EVERTON (3-4-1-2): Olsen 7; Keane 7, Mina 7, Holgate 7; Coleman 7 (Godfrey 76), Davies 7, Gomes 5 (Sigurdsson 31, 6), Digne 6; Rodriguez 8 (Gbamin 78); Calvert-lewin 5, Richarlison 5.
CRYSTAL PALACE (4-4-2): GUAITA 8; Ward 6, Kouyate 7, Cahill 7, Van Aanholt 6; Ayew 6 (Batshuayi 84), Milivojevic 6, Riedewald 7 (Schlupp 69, 6), Eze 7; Benteke 5 (Mateta 77), Zaha 6.
REFEREE: Kevin Friend 6