Gameweek 6 saw Oliver Glasner’s high-flying Eagles travel up to the blue side of Merseyside to play Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Coming into the game, Crystal Palace were unbeaten in 18 matches - a run stretching back to last April after their 5–0 loss to Newcastle at St. James’ Park. However, this week they faced an Everton team that were, and still are, unbeaten at the Hill Dickinson.
Tale Of Two Halves.
Palace controlled proceedings in the first half, creating a multitude of big chances. Tyrick Mitchell struck the bar, and Mateta tested Pickford down to his right with a solid effort, all before Daniel Muñoz opened the scoring in the 37th minute. The Eagles enjoyed 53% of possession and produced 0.63 expected goals (xG) compared to Everton’s 0.04. Everton looked sluggish and completely unable to match Palace’s intensity and, in truth, could have found themselves in a far worse position than just 1–0 down at half-time had Palace enjoyed a little more fortune.
The match momentum bar displaying Palace’s dominance in the first half.
In the second half, the game was almost completely turned on its head. Palace still managed to create a couple of good chances - notably an effort from Mateta from ten yards out that had Pickford scrambling - but unfortunately for the Frenchman, he dragged his shot wide. However, these opportunities mostly came from counter-attacking moves rather than the patient, methodical approach we saw from them in the first half that baited Everton’s press many times.
The 2nd half momentum bar, almost the complete opposite of the first half.
Everton took complete control in the second half, they had 54% of the ball and created a huge 1.99 expected goals (xG) - this was astronomically better than their first-half performance. They matched Palace’s intensity and the early introductions of Carlos Alcaraz and Beto in the 46th minute helped them do this. Carlos Alcaraz’s chance in the 66th minute epitomised everything Everton were doing in the 2nd half; forward thinking, on the front foot and getting to every loose ball first - something they weren’t doing in the first half. He latched onto a loose ball that Chris Richards had failed to deal with, despite not really looking anywhere near favourite to recover the ball, he burst through the gap between Richards and Lacroix and his rifled effort forced a good save from Dean Henderson.
Moyes Boys Force Palace Mistakes.
Everton really took advantage of the momentum they built up throughout the 2nd half - they had Palace shaken and they knew it.
Everton’s equaliser stemmed from a well-executed overload on Palace’s right-hand side. By rotating their attacking midfielders and full-back into the wide channels and half-spaces, Everton created a 4v3 situation that forced Palace’s defensive line to shift laterally. This stretched their compactness and left Maxence Lacroix isolated against two runners (Beto and Tim Iroegbunam) without cover from his full-back or holding midfielder. The situation caused Lacroix to panic and commit to a diving tackle - something we’re not used to seeing from him, which subsequently resulted in the penalty.
The winning goal was one again that epitomised the second half of football from both sides, Everton looked willing whilst Palace were unorganised and honestly looked to be feeling the effects of playing mid-week in the Conference League. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s a huge slice of luck for Munoz’s clearance to bounce off Grealish the way it did - but this was luck that Everton created for themselves. As the ball comes in, both Lacroix and Guehi are ball-watching whilst Beto and Alcaraz are completely unmarked - leaving Chris Richards unable to step up onto Beto due to Tarkowski’s threat. Grealish makes a run at the back post, strolling past Adam Wharton and into the position to be a threat.
Final Take-Aways
Whilst this game was ultimately lost by Palace due to a penalty and a deflected clearance, these facts shouldn’t take anything away from Everton’s efforts in making those moments happen. Palace went into this match with the joint-best defensive record in the league, having conceded just three goals in six games, yet Everton repeatedly found ways to disrupt their back line - causing complete disorganisation in a unit that is usually so astute.
For Everton, it was a very important three points, especially given that their next three fixtures are tough - trips to both Manchester City and Sunderland, with a home game against Thomas Frank’s Spurs in between.
As for Palace, they’ll be disheartened - of course they will be; no team wants to lose a game in which they took the lead. However, despite the defeat, they still sit in sixth place - just two points off fourth and four points behind league leaders Arsenal.
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