Saturday 21 January 2017 19:14, UK
Ronald Koeman praised the quality of Seamus Coleman's strike as Everton snatched a late, yet deserved, victory at struggling Crystal Palace.
A dogged defensive display from the relegation-threatened Eagles looked set to hold the Toffees to a frustrating goalless draw at Selhurst Park.
But Coleman's near-post drive three minutes from time sealed the victory - the Merseysiders' fourth in their last five Premier League outings.
"It was a quality goal. Coleman is fantastic, with a great heart," Koeman told Sky Sports.
"He is always on the move and this season he is scoring very important goal, both before and what he did today."
Crystal Palace boss Sam Allardyce took offence with Everton's winner, which was scored while Jeffrey Schlupp was down receiving treatment for an injury.
Koeman, however, accepted the referee Anthony Taylor's decision and instead claimed Palace lost the game due to Everton's dominance.
"The decision is fair," he said. "The referee's decision is always final. I heard the player was off the pitch and then brought himself back onto the pitch.
"I understand why the game went on and that's not the reason why they lost, that's too easy a reason to explain Crystal Palace's defeat.
"We should have been in front at half-time. We had it difficult in the beginning but after 10 minutes we dominated the game with the better football and the better chances.
"But really good goalkeeping from Hennessey meant that we needed to work and fight in the second half and finally we got the goal we deserved.
The result saw Everton tighten their grip on seventh position in the table as well as seeing them close the gap on to sixth-place Manchester United.
And, having built on last weekend's demolition of Manchester City, Koeman was keen to see their impressive form continue.
"We have our ambition and if you're in a good run you can climb the table that's what we like," the Everton boss said.
"Every week we prepare ourselves but everybody knows the Premier League is difficult. This win today was more difficult.
"You can beat big teams but it's all about the performance after and it was seriously good. I am really pleased about that."
