An early effort from Romelu Lukaku secured a vital 1-0 victory for Everton over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
The Belgian gave Everton the lead after two minutes but Roberto Martinez’s side where on the back foot from there on in, with Dwight Gayle, Marouane Chamakh and Jason Puncheon all coming close. The second period was one of very few opportunities with Lukaku and Aidan McGeady coming close to killing off but that early goal proved to be the winner.
Crystal Palace were a side reborn going into this game under new manager Alan Pardew. Since Pardew’s arrival, the Eagles had won four consecutive games and jumped up the table into 13th. Everton were a complete contrast to that having gone nine games in all competitions without a win.
Despite the form table, it was the away side who took the lead after two minutes when Steven Naismith latched onto the through ball, he took it to the by-line before playing back across the area which Julian Speroni palmed away onto the body of Lukaku who slid it home.
Crystal Palace nearly equalised almost immediately when Gayle was quickest to latch onto an open ball but Phil Jagielka just managed to clear the effort off the line. Chamakh showed good feet in the 12th minute but John Stones did brilliantly to block the Moroccans effort.
Alan Pardew’s afternoon got worse in the 24th minute when he was forced into an early substitute with Chamakh being stretchered off after he collided with Seamus Coleman and was replaced by new signing Jordan Mutch. Joel was called upon ten minutes before the break when Puncheon hit a low dipping shot from distance towards the corner but keeper got down well to deal with it.
The second period lacked the ferocity of the first with neither side having any real opportunities, Gayle was the only one with any real opportunity when he chested down the ball pumped towards the area but Coleman did well to intercept.
Everton had two good opportunities in the last 13 minutes to kill off the game the first fell to Lukaku who just missed Aidan McGeady ball across the face of goal. McGeady then forced a good save from Speroni who stopped his curling effort going into the top corner. Lukaku had another opportunity in the 87th minute when he took on the Palace defender but his effort only found the side netting.
This will be a big boost of confidence for Martinez’s side ahead of the Merseyside derby next weekend with their first win in nine matches in all competitions but will need to improve on their finishing before that big game. It will be disappointing for Pardew with his first defeat at the helm of Palace as they could have easily got something from this game but despite the defeat they will be confident of survival in the league.
| Crystal Palace (0) | Everton (1) | ||
 |  |  | |
| Speroni | 5 | Joel | 5 |
| Ward | 4 | Coleman | 6 |
| Dann | 6 | Stones | 6 |
| Delaney | 6 | Jagielka | 7 |
| Kelly | 5 | Baines | 6 |
| Puncheon | 6 | Besic | 6 |
| McArthur | 5 | Barry | 5 |
| Ledley | 5 | McGeady | 5 |
| Gayle | 6 | Naismith | 5 |
| Chamakh | 5 | Mirallas | 5 |
| Sanogo | 5 | Lukaku | 6 |
| Remplaçants | |||
| Zaha | 5 | Oviedo | 5 |
| Murray | 5 | Kone | - |
| Mutch | 6 | ||