Everton were unable to surf the emotional wave created by Thursday night’s Goodison Park dramatics in an FA Cup tie at Crystal Palace that began promisingly but ended with Frank Lampard’s team exiting the competition.
The air went out of the away team’s bright start following a 17th-minute injury for Andros Townsend and Palace underlined the momentum swing when Marc Guehi headed in the opener on 25 minutes.
Everton began the game without Demarai Gray and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who experienced a “small reaction”, in Lampard’s words, following his influential role off the bench against Newcastle United three days ago.
Gray, however, was on for Townsend early in the piece. And Calvert-Lewin played the second 45 minutes as Everton tried to recover a two-goal deficit following Jean-Philippe Maeteta’s strike shortly before half-time.
There were bouts of Everton pressure in the second half but Palace, with their cushion, played on the counter and hit the visitors with late goals from Wilfried Zaha and Will Hughes to advance to a Wembley semi-final.
The pungent smell of smoke from a flurry of pre-match fireworks was still filling the air in this corner of south-east London when Everton created their first opening.
If Michael Keane had converted instead of dragging his second-minute shot fractionally wide – and out of reach of Ben Godfrey, desperately trying to increase one shoe size at the back post – the linesman’s flag might have intervened, in any case.
It was a promising early episode for the visitors regardless, Everton players queuing up for a strike following Townsend’s free-kick – which resulted from Joachim Andersen’s rather frantic bid to dispossess Richarlison.
Whether it was the expectation accompanying a home FA Cup quarter-final, or an initial sense of over confidence after seeing Everton start without their gun centre-forward in Calvert-Lewin – and the away side diminished by suspension and players Cup tied – was unclear, but Palace were uncharacteristically lax in the opening phase.
Patrick Vieira has moulded a quality, young team at Selhurst Park – they have pace on the flanks and dynamism through the middle of the pitch – and in Guehi, the centre-half, a player summoned by England for the first time this week.
But the 21-year-old defender took his eye off the ball, literally, to momentarily let in Richarlison for a run at goal after six minutes. Guehi chanced a last-ditch recovery tackle and, by timing it perfectly, atoned for his lapse.
And this was the direction of travel until a blow for Everton when a visibly distressed Townsend was forced off, the delay for the former Palace player’s treatment stripping the away team of momentum.
The initial pressure applied by Lampard’s side resulted in a number of promising openings.
Anthony Gordon niftily escaped Cheikhou Kouyate and Conor Gallagher in midfield but Richarlison had run a yard offside when the pass arrived.
Goodison Park Academy graduate Gordon was repeatedly popping up in central positions, providing a close ally for Richarlison and running at the heart of the hosts’ backline.
Gordon – who would swap to left-wing-back for the second half – surfaced on the right after 18 minutes, however, displaying tremendous vision to ignore a chocka penalty box and pull a ball back for Mason Holgate. The measured effort from 25 yards deflected behind off Andersen.
Richarlison thrashed over after Palace coughed up possession under pressure.
And, soon after, the Brazilian was off target from a free-kick taken by Townsend, who had been dumped to the turf by Tyrick Mitchell’s mistimed tackle.
The locals’ hackles were up when Andre Gomes’ high boot caught Gallagher above the neck. It was an accident but enough to reignite a crowd in danger of falling flat.
There was encouragement for Palace on 20 minutes, the home team’s crispest passage of play, so far, ending with an Eberechi Eze shot into Pickford’s gloves.
The hitherto redundant Pickford did very well to beat behind Michael Olise’s vicious inswung right-wing corner on 25 minutes.
Olise, called up by the France Under-21 team this week, readjusted his radar for the next delivery, sending the dead ball out of Pickford’s reach and onto the head of Guehi, who steered into the far corner.
Mateta sprinted down the right to cutback for Zaha to shoot into the side netting at the near post, the boost of a goal helping Palace locate their thrust and rhythm.
The threat from Everton remained, nevertheless, Gomes wide from distance shortly after Guehi’s goal and Richarlison directing a jabbed right footer straight at Jack Butland following a terrific 40-yard ball from Seamus Coleman.
Coleman did exceptionally well at the other end deep into first-half stoppage time, preventing Mateta from letting fly when the Frenchman was poised eight yards from goal.
Mateta, though, had doubled Palace’s lead by this stage.
Eze ushered in Zaha down the left and the winger, relatively quiet in the opening 40 minutes, sprang to life.
The delivery along the ground invited Mateta to shoot first time and the forward gratefully accepted, swiping his finish across Pickford.
Lampard replaced Jonjoe Kenny with Calvert-Lewin for the second half, a change that led to the redeployment of Gordon and roles for Gray and Richarlison in support of the England striker.
Palace, meantime, were content to revert to a counter-attacking ploy.
Full-backs Mitchell and Nathaniel Clyne abandoned their offensive intent, while Andersen and Guehi, in particular, engaged Calvert-Lewin in a muscular battle.
Coleman, working like a trojan on Everton’s right, sent over a cross that was too tall for Calvert-Lewin, fleetingly escaping his bodyguards.
Gray, on 67 minutes, skilfully created space for a shot, arrowed with minimal backlift but travelling a foot wide.
Gordon and Gomes, meanwhile, went in the book for challenges to stop Palace sprinting out of their own half.
Odsonne Edouard went on for Palace and immediately made ground through the middle. The eventual shot from Olise, however, was skied into the afternoon sun.
Alex Iwobi, the toast of Goodison three days ago, was introduced for Coleman, as Lampard essentially went for broke on 73 minutes.
There was increasing urgency about Everton’s football and Doucoure, Richarlison and Gordon combined in a rapid move to release Gray, whose low cross was too close to Palace keeper Butland.
Zaha had a chance to put the outcome beyond doubt but delayed and delayed before Michael Keane managed to block.
But Zaha and Palace wrapped up the tie with a slightly freakish 79th-minute goal.
Zaha burrowed into the area and squared for Olise, who completely miskicked towards goal.
The ball looped up, dropping sharply onto Pickford’s right post and falling perfectly for Zaha to all but send Everton out of the FA Cup.
Butland had one more save to make when Gray aimed to the keeper’s left from 12 yards.
And Palace scored their fourth on 87 minutes, Pickford saving athletically after Gallagher controlled and shot – but substitute Hughes perfectly stationed to place the rebound past the Everton keeper.
