Everton rescues 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace in EPL

A stubborn Crystal Palace withstood a dominant second-half display from Everton to move into the top six of the Premier League with a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park.

Scott Dann’s header had given the visitors a 76th-minute lead but Lukaku, who had already hit the frame of the goal twice, converted from close range to make it 1-1 nine minutes from time.

“It’s a long process to get to the stage where you can play 90 minutes without losing the power and the pace in every action but now it’s very rare that you don’t see him finish the last 10 minutes with the same power, pace and control”.

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew will be looking for more consistancy in their away performances as they have won four and lost three away this season.

But there was controversy as the clock ticked down, as substitute Jordon Mutch went to ground inside the box under a Ramiro Funes Mori challenge. “The second one I think is a penalty as well”.

Not since Joe Royle in the late 1960s has an Everton player reached their first century of matches in such prolific fashion as Romelu Lukaku.

Chung-Yong, who signed for Palace from Bolton in February, has made just seven appearances for the club this season.

But for all their probing they drew a blank in the first half, although Lukaku was unlucky not to score his seventh goal in six matches when his shot beat goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey but rebounded off the inside of the far post and flew across the face of goal.

This game will be a case of deciding whose form you rate as the best now, as both teams have obvious merits and impressive wins under their belts recently.

He said: “I think the pull on the shirt was certainly a penalty”. Little bits of quality could have been better but overall it was a cracking game.

“I’m not saying this investment will see us lift the title next season”.

“But as I said, I still can not moan about the result because the result in my opinion was between two great teams in terms of commitment and effort”.

Connor Wickham hit his own bar when Ross Barkley swung in a risky free-kick before Dann headed home Jason Puncheon’s corner with 14 minutes to go.

After the Sunderland debacle the previous week, it was important for Pardew and co to get three points against a vulnerable Newcastle side.

“We want to be an exciting team to watch but, at the end of it, we want to be a team who can win consistently”. “I keep giving him a nod towards England”. Luck was a big factor in Everton dropping two points and for the most part, the play remained fluid if a little slow against a compact and well structured Palace team. Arch rivals Liverpool and a resurgent Tottenham Hotspur seem to be the favourites to land the much coveted space, but there’s no ruling Everton out with the form they’ve been in this year.