Blues Forced To Settle For Point Against Eagles

An end-to-end affair saw Everton held to a 2-2 draw by Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday afternoon after the Blues had twice taken the lead.

James Tarkowski broke the deadlock inside six minutes – the centre-back maintaining composure to slot past Dean Henderson after the hosts failed to clear James Garner’s dangerous corner.

However, the south Londoners restored parity in the 33rd minute via Ismaila Sarr, who fired home from 10 yards out after his initial effort was cleared by Michael Keane.

If Tarkowski showed composure for Everton’s first, Beto certainly matched that only two minutes after the break. After latching onto Tarkowski’s long ball, the forward breezed past Maxence Lacroix before finishing in between the legs of Henderson to net his fifth goal from as many games.

Oliver Glasner’s side drew level once more, though, as substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta blasted the ball in to the roof of the net following Tyrick Mitchell’s cut-back with 13 minutes remaining.

Everton were to rue missed opportunities with other chances coming from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and a late effort by Iliman Ndiaye.

Toffees boss David Moyes named an unchanged XI from the Blues' thrilling 3-3 draw with title-chasing Manchester City at Hill Dickinson Stadium six days earlier.

Tarkowski opened the scoring with just six minutes on the clock after the ball fell kindly to the centre-back following Garner’s enticing corner. Keane battled with Mitchell to meet the travelling ball, with the full-back only able to head the ball to the back-post, where Everton’s number six maintained composure to slot home.

A minute of madness ensued on 17 minutes, with Palace searching for an equaliser and the Toffees looking for a second. First, Pickford made a strong save via his right boot after the ball landed at the feet of Lacroix from a corner. Then, from the subsequent counter, Ndiaye slipped in Dewsbury-Hall, who rounded Chris Richards but failed to beat Henderson – who also saved via his feet.

Despite a barrage of dangerous counter-attacks from the visitors, the Eagles drew level on 33 minutes through Sarr. The forward combined well with Daniel Munoz down the left, before receiving the ball inside the Blues’ box. His initial strike was cleared by Keane, but Sarr was on hand to convert the rebound.

Two minutes after the interval, Beto restored the Toffees’ lead with an ice-cold finish. The striker raced onto Tarkowski’s ball down the right channel – showing immense strength to hold off the retreating Lacroix. Beto then turned the Frenchman inside-out before slotting the ball in between the legs of the outrushing Henderson to send the away end wild.

Dewsbury-Hall came close to adding a third 10 minutes later after latching on to Pickford’s impressive throw. The midfielder looked to round Henderson and shift the ball on to his favoured foot, but was thwarted by a combination of the keeper and the recovering Richards.

Mateta made an instant impact after coming off the bench – the France international levelling the scores once more with 77 minutes on the clock. Mitchell pulled a low-cross back to the awaiting striker upon reaching the by-line, with Mateta on hand to smash in to the roof of the net.

Dewsbury-Hall seemed to have squandered a golden opportunity to take all three points with two minutes left, but the linesman’s flag was correctly raised after Thierno Barry received the ball in an offside position in the build-up.

That was not the final chance of the clash, though, as Ndiaye came inches away from nicking a decisive winner in the first minute of injury time. Substitute Tyrique George skipped past two Palace challenges and freed the 26-year-old. Nidaye opted for power, and saw his rising strike palmed over by the diving Henderson.

That concluded the action-packed match, with attention now turning to the Blues' final home fixture of the season against Sunderland on Sunday 17 May (3pm BST).