Pickford to the rescue again as penalty stop sets up Everton win
‘A third win in a row was our goal. I want a squad ready to react’ ‘Missing a penalty lifted the crowd and gave them fresh impetus’
Crystal Palace have scored five goals all season and their next four games are against Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United. They are 15th now. Will they start December in the relegation zone?
They did not necessarily need to win here, but given what comes next – and that Everton keeper Jordan Pickford saved a penalty at 0-0 – there was a sense that this was an opportunity missed to build confidence for a challenging period ahead. The story, instead, became Pickford’s. He stopped Luka Milivojevic’s spot-kick with his legs midway through the second half and, with that, the mood inside Goodison Park transformed.
Everton’s third Premier League victory in succession was also a consequence of Marco Silva’s decisions. He was brave with his substi- tutions and Ademola Lookman, Dominic Calvert-lewin and Cenk Tosun contributed towards Everton’s decisive late goals, the latter two scoring within a couple of minutes of each other as injury time approached.
For Silva, this sort of home win will build trust, because it was secured so late and his judgment was key to the outcome. It helps him greatly, of course, to have Pickford. No Everton goalkeeper since Neville Southall has had the ability to generate positive news headlines.
For two home games in succession now, Everton have found a way to win despite subdued firsthalf performances. From the moment Pickford stopped Milivojevic, their play felt like a tide that Palace would do well to resist.
Silva is not a personality sort of manager, so he will be judged on results. He recognised the importance of this one. “It was our goal to achieve the third win in a row,” he said. “It was also really important to get the second at home after two not-good games against Huddersfield and West Ham. The most important thing is to support everything with a result. I want our squad ready to react every time. Now we are in a good momentum.”
Palace manager Roy Hodgson, was doing his best to maintain a sense of calm. “The penalty-miss lifted the crowd and gave them fresh impetus going forward,” he said. “They were able to risk a bit more. I still think it was harsh we conceded a goal. I am not sure people would have begrudged us a result. We have to dust ourselves down. There is no point feeling sorry for ourselves.”
Hodgson admitted, however, that Palace’s lack of goals had the potential to affect confidence in other areas of his team.
“Of course it does,” he said. “I thought for the best part of the game we defended well enough to stifle their efforts, and we looked dangerous going forward. If we continue to do that, I am sure the goals will come in.”
It should worry Hodgson more that Palace, rather than missing lots of chances, are instead struggling to create them. It did not help him here that Max Meyer, the German midfielder, was missing with flu. His decision to use Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend as centreforwards means they are without natural width, and this will reduce scoring opportunities.
Palace looked more dangerous from set pieces. A first-half corner from Townsend was met by Cheik-
hou Kouyate’s header and that rattled the crossbar.
At the other end, Gylfi Sigurdsson almost swept home Seamus Coleman’s precise cutback but Wayne Hennessey’s save was outstanding. Everton had to do more to unsettle Palace, and this explained why after the break they went for it a bit more, with both full-backs pushing forward. This meant there was more space for Palace to try to exploit when they were able to counter-attack. It was partly because of this that they were able to earn a penalty after Zaha was tripped by Coleman.
Pickford would intervene at this point, and from there, Goodison found its voice. Everton’s opening goal involved a Lookman and Calvert-lewin combination five minutes after they were sent on. Calvert-lewin’s thumping header was glorious, and suddenly Palace were desperately trying to find their own attacking momentum. With gaps appearing, Tosun had the space he needed to race beyond Mamadou Sakho and seal the result in front of the Gwladys Street Stand.
The outcome means Everton rise to eighth. But where will Palace be a month from now after their toughest run of fixtures this season to date? It helps Hodgson that Connor Wickham is now free from the injuries that have ruined the last two years of his career, and he went on here as an 89th-minute substitute. Whether he is ready to start against some of the best quality opposition is another matter, though.
“My mindset is, we will continue to do what we are doing, continue to work hard and make sure we are as organised as we can be,” Hodgson vowed. “Of course, we are hoping that the chances that come our way are taken. The last few days we have not been staring down the barrel of the gun in terms of the opponents scoring, but we can do more ourselves.”