Crystal Palace vs Everton. Premier League.
Selhurst ParkAttendance25,789.
Report and highlights as Everton hit the post twice in the second half
Saturday 27 April 2019 19:36, UK
Crystal Palace and Everton played out a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park, with neither side able to follow up last weekend's big wins.
The hosts picked up a 3-2 away victory at Arsenal on Sunday and Everton thrashed Manchester United 4-0 on the same day, in two thrilling performances, but neither bought the same form to south London.
Everton had the better of the chances, twice hitting the post in the second half, with Cenk Tosun forcing a fingertip save from Eagles goalkeeper Vicente Guaita, but they ultimately lacked a cutting edge.
Crystal Palace remain in 12th place with their Premier League status already secure for another season, while Everton move up a place into eighth after Watford lost to Wolves.
Everton had the best opportunities in the first half but did not really test Guaita in the home goal. They had a great chance inside six minutes when a long goal-kick from Jordan Pickford found Dominic Calvert-Lewin up front. However, his shot on the angle went straight into the hands of Guaita.
The visitors had a flurry of chances around the 40-minute mark. Calvert-Lewin was involved again, putting a good header over the bar before Idrissa Gueye had a speculative effort from range, but Guaita got down low to save. Richarlison nearly set up Calvert-Lewin again for another header not long after, but it just evaded the head of the young forward.
Everton began the second half well too and were denied by the post inside 10 minutes. A poor clearance from Patrick van Aanholt saw the ball at the feet of an unmarked Bernard in the top left corner of the area, but his thunderous shot could only find the upright.
Much like the first period, chances continued to be few and far between but, despite having little to do, Guaita made a sensational save in the 78th minute. Seamus Coleman squared the ball into the area and Tosun tried to send it home with an audacious back-heel. However, the Palace goalkeeper made an instinctive, fingertip save, with Luka Milivojevic clearing the ball as Tosun attempted a bicycle-kick with the rebound.
Crystal Palace failed to produce a shot on target during the game, with Cheikhou Kouyate firing well wide of the upright in the 74th minute despite Christian Benteke being open in the middle, before a curling effort from substitute Andros Townsend landed into the hands of Pickford not long after.
Everton once again found the upright in the 89th minute. Lucas Digne floated a cross in from the left-hand side - aided by the blustery conditions in south London - and it caught the far post before bouncing away, with neither side then able to find the winning touch in the closing stages.
Roy Hodgson: "It's a little bit frustrating because we would like to have played better, we would have liked Everton to play worse, we would liked to have had more controlled possession than we were able to get and we would have liked our passing to be better than it was today.
"I thought they showed a lot of character, a lot of diligence and a lot of determination to make sure that we came away with at least a point, which is a lot better than the defeat we suffered at Everton with two really late goals. But I believe we played better football than we did today."
Marco Silva: "Since the first minute, we dominated all the game in our offensive parts. We created chances, we had two shots off the post, there was a fantastic save from the goalkeeper, maybe 10 or 11 corners also. We did more than enough to win the match, it's just that we were not clinical.
"We dominated the game. I told our players that we tried everything and we just didn't put the ball in the net because we did everything well until that moment."
Coleman was a man who led by example for Everton at Selhurst Park. He put in vital work at the back to snuff out the talent of Wilfried Zaha and Max Meyer, while looking rather attack-minded as he got down the right flank on a number of occasions.
Indeed, he set up Tosun for his effort in the 78th minute and, with a little bit more care all around, he could have nabbed an assist for his efforts. It was not meant to be for either side, but Coleman should be pleased with his afternoon's work.
Crystal Palace travel to Cardiff next weekend in their penultimate game of the Premier League season before hosting Bournemouth on the final day. Everton welcome Burnley on Friday Night Football this week before travelling to Tottenham on Sunday May 12.
