Baines gives Everton fans spot of relief after Palace are punished
Their search for a new manager may be looking increasingly desperate, the slide towards the lower end of the table showing no real sign of being reversed, but it cannot be denied that Everton re- tain some measure of battling instinct.
A fortnight after recovering from two goals down to defeat Watford, here was another backs-to-the wall display, twice coming from behind to rescue a point at bottom-of-the-table Crystal Palace in a match they dare not have lost.
Goals from Leighton Baines, from the penalty spot, and Oumar Niasse cancelled out strikes from James McArthur and Wilfried Zaha to leave David Unsworth, Everton’s caretaker manager, with some cause for satisfaction after a week in which his club were twice rebuffed by Watford in their pursuit of Marco Silva.
It was frustration for Palace, however, who missed a chance to cut significantly the gap between themselves and the rest of the relegation pack, payhosts, ing heavily for a contentious penalty award and a rash moment by goalkeeper Julian Speroni.
“Two points lost, not happy with the goals we conceded. We played well enough to have won but you get what you get,” Roy Hodgson, the Palace manager, said.
A happier Unsworth said: “We will take anything we can at the moment. It was a hard-fought point that we deserved. The players have been terrific, they have given me everything.”
Everton could barely have contrived a worse start as they were caught asleep during Palace’s first attack, in the first minute.
The creator was Ruben LoftusCheek, star of England’s youthful show of strength against Germany eight days earlier, who found space to work an opening and fire at goal.
Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, another England starlet to twinkle against the Germans, might have done better than push the shot back into the danger area, where McArthur was perfectly placed to volley home.
Would Everton crumble? Not a bit of it. Indeed they were on level terms just six minutes later. Niasse went down under Scott Dann’s challenge, referee Anthony Taylor had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot and Baines coolly converted.
Palace protested vociferously and Hodgson afterwards said icily: “It was a penalty. The reason it was a penalty was because that was the referee’s decision.”
Yet Everton fell behind again 10 minutes before the interval, their defence found wanting again. Dann’s low cross from the right needed to be intercepted, but the ball found its way to Zaha who finished from close in.
The visitors were level again, just before half-time, after a Palace horror show. Having sold Niasse a dummy, Speroni passed riskily to Dann, surrounded by opponents. Idrissa Gueye played the pick-pocket, then fed Niasse who steered Everton level again.
Hodgson turned to Christian Benteke, back from injury, for the final 15 minutes. The big target man scuffed a chance when clean through and Everton held firm.