Scorching second half sees Everton ease to victory over Crystal Palace

With Everton sat in 10th, just 4 points ahead of Crystal Palace, manager Sam Allardyce would have been hoping before the game that his team could distance themselves from the congested bottom 10 in their pursuit of a top half finish. Roy Hodgson’s Eagles, on the other hand, had the task of closing in on their opposition.

A cagey start to the tie saw both teams struggling to get the ball under control. It was a rather uneventful first half with only a few flashes of life from long shots. Idrissa Gueye brought about the first shot-on-target from distance, then Luka Milivojevic and Yohan Cabaye tried their chances at testing Pickford. Neither were able to find the net.

The first half looked over when loanee Eliquiam Mangala hobbled off injured with 44 minutes on the clock but a chance fell to Benteke to put Palace ahead. Unfortunately for Hodgson’s side, the Belgian’s header from Alexander Sorloth's dinked cross was unable to find the bottom corner and the teams went in goalless at half time.

- Second-half blitz - 

The second half would prove to be vastly different from the first and brought an electric start. Whatever Sam Allardyce said at the break worked and Everton came firing out of the blocks, scoring 2 goals in 5 minutes. Another edge-of-the-box goal for Sigurdsson’s extensive collection followed by a well-placed header from Niasse, back across Hennessey who dove down to his right but ultimately could not get near the ball.

At 2-0 the next goal was crucial. Headers from Benteke and Sorloth failed to pull one back for Palace who were punished by youngster Tom Davies. Reacting quickest to the ball in the box, Davies capitalised on the Eagles’ misses and put his team 3-0 up.  

Milivojevic managed to reduce the damage as he converted from the penalty spot in the 83rd minute after Ashley Williams was adjudged to have handled but it was too little too late for Palace. The game would finish at 3-1.

After a strong second half display from Everton, Allardyce can be pleased with how his team responded to last weekend’s 5-1 thrashing at the Emirates. Palace, however, are now winless in 4 and fall deeper into the league’s relegation scrap.