The lowdown on Everton 2 Crystal Palace 1 – Meek loss at Goodison Park as attacking play is slow and methodical

BY ADAM SELLS

Palace surrendered a half-time lead as they slipped meekly to defeat at Goodison Park.

It’s now six games without a victory, with the Eagles having garnered just three points from draws.

It is now just one victory in 12 matches for Oliver Glasner, under his stewardship without the mercurial Michael Olise. That came against a 10-man Burnley in his first game back in late February.

Here is the lowdown on the match.

THE LINE-UPS

Everton: Pickford, Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Mangala (Garner 83), Doucoure, Lindstrom (Harrison 46), McNeil (Gueye 83), Ndiaye, Calvert-Lewin. Subs not used: Armstrong, Beto, Iroegbunam, Keane, Virgina, O’Brien.

Crystal Palace: Henderson, Lacroix, Guehi, Lerma, Munoz, Wharton (Hughes 89), Kamada (Sarr 62), Mitchell, Nketiah (Schlupp 73), Eze, Mateta. Subs not used: Turner, Chalobah, Clyne, Agbinone, Umeh, Ward.

SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME

Palace were comfortable in the first half against a very edgy Everton side, performing in front of an equally nervous home crowd. The game was there to be won, but the visitors lacked the pace, thrust and guile to put the game beyond the reach of their hosts. After conceding moments into the second half to a Dwight McNeil wonder strike, the former Burnley man struck again seven minutes later and the Eagles offered nothing in response and drifted tamely to defeat.

TACTICAL APPROACH
Palace boss Glasner stuck with his trusted 3-4-2-1 formation, with Jefferson Lerma on the left side of the back three.
Somewhat surprisingly the Palace boss opted again to pair summer signing Daichi Kamada in midfield alongside Adam Wharton, despite the struggles last week against Manchester United in the opening period. The same midfield axis was used in the final third of the West Ham home match following the withdrawal of the aforementioned Colombian Lerma, which saw the Eagles concede two quick goals last month.
Eddie Nketiah was again deployed in a deeper ‘number 10’ role and the £25million man was hooked with just over quarter of an hour remaining.
After an impressive cameo last weekend, Ismaila Sarr again started on the bench. After falling behind Glasner switched to 4-2-3-1 but it didn’t click, even with the changes in personnel.

STAR MAN
Jefferson Lerma. Performed well in the back three and then in midfield.

BEST MOMENT
Marc Guehi’s neat finish after 10 minutes. A poor Wharton corner was rescued by Kamada, before Maxence Lacroix headed back for the England star to nip in and finish.

MOAN OF THE MATCH
Palace’s attacking play was slow and methodical, with the team lacking real individual talent and unpredictability. It meant that their hosts were able to contain them easily after they go their noses in front. Everton should never have been able to gain a foothold in the game, but Glasner’s men seem to struggle to put opponents to the sword, even when in the ascendency.

TALKING POINTS DOWN THE PUB

How are Palace going to come up with a winning formula? The squad looks woefully short of flair and pace.
To win games you need special players. They have lost two in the past two seasons without anything like any adequate replacements. Consequently it is hard to see where the next win is coming from. Glasner seems confident, citing he went through a similar spell in charge last season. However, the upturn in form coincided with the return to fitness of Olise – a luxury he can no longer call upon.

WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY

“We controlled most of the first half, but in the 15 minutes at the start of the second half we lost the momentum. They got the belief back. We tried everything. The players did everything until the end of the game, but we got a little bit nervous. We wanted to get the equaliser, but we couldn’t find the right spaces.”