Everton Under-21s earned a share of the spoils from an entertaining Premier League 2 match against Crystal Palace at Sutton United’s VBS Community Stadium that ended goalless.
The young Blues almost took the lead after nine minutes. A surging run from Jenson Metcalfe ended when he was fouled right on the edge of the box and from Mackenzie Hunt’s free-kick, Palace keeper Joe Whitworth made a fine diving save.
Torrential driving rain in the first-half made things tricky for both sets of players but Everton certainly adapted the better.
A Lewis Warrington effort from distance was deflected wide for a corner and Luke Butterfield, Kyle John and Katia Kouyate all had decent efforts blocked.
At the other end, Blues goalkeeper Billy Crellin had to be alert and acrobatic to turn a cross from Sean Grehan over his own crossbar.
There was a real let-off for Everton on 34 minutes. Roman Dixon’s back-pass rolled under Crellin’s foot and the 'keeper had to sprint after the ball to hack it away.
It looked over the line but the assistant referee was a few yards behind the play and both Dixon and Crellin breathed again.
Whitworth saved Palace once more at the start of the second half with a fine save from a Charlie Whitaker direct free-kick.
Half-time substitute Halid Djankpata had a chance on the hour mark to put the visitors ahead. He caught his shot sweetly, however, it was straight at the Palace 'keeper.
Everton continued to create the better openings, both John and Hunt had efforts that were just too high before Whitaker was fed by Roman Dixon, forcing Whitworth to save the hosts again.
Palace had their moments too, as the second half progressed. Danny Imray’s dangerous cross just needed a touch from Franco Umeh, but the ball fizzed across the six-yard line and then Imray himself tested Crellin with a powerful shot.
With nine minutes to go, Palace had the ball in the Everton net but the strike was rightly ruled out for offside.
There were plenty of positives for Paul Tait to take from this game – one of which was the assured display of Tyler Onyango, operating in a central defensive position for the very first time. He did really well against a tricky Palace forward line.
The Blues and the Eagles meet again next Tuesday at Selhurst Park in the semi-final of the Premier League International Cup.
By Darren Griffiths
