Everton beat winless Palace for first victory

Dwight McNeil's second-half double gave Everton their first Premier League victory of the season against winless Crystal Palace to relieve the pressure on manager Sean Dyche.

BBC
BBC
Everton beat Palace to record first win

Dwight McNeil’s second-half double gave Everton their first Premier League victory of the season against winless Crystal Palace to relieve the pressure on manager Sean Dyche.

The Toffees had collected just one point from their opening five games and although Saturday’s contest did not start too well, the win moved them out of the bottom three for the first time this term.

Palace took the lead on 10 minutes courtesy of England centre-half Marc Guehi, who reacted quickest to poke in from close range following Maxence Lacroix’s knock down from a corner.

Set-pieces have been causing Everton issues this season and they almost conceded again, this time via Daniel Munoz’s goalbound header which was cleared off the line by Iliman Ndiaye.

At the other end, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and McNeil failed to convert headed efforts as Everton struggled to work visiting goalkeeper Dean Henderson in the opening period.

But the home side responded immediately after the restart as McNeil’s thumping drive from range curled past Henderson and nestled in the far corner of the net.

The equaliser brought the crowd to life and Everton quickly grabbed a second, McNeil controlling Jack Harrison’s cross before volleying in from the angle.

Oliver Glasner’s side barely threatened after an impressive opening period and are in need of improvement, collecting just three points from their six games so far.

Dyche tweak helps Toffees turnaround

Everton’s miserable season on the pitch looked like taking a further turn for the worse when they fell behind and the team were loudly jeered off by the home faithful at the interval.

Dyche has been supported by the club’s hierarchy, with his position deemed as “safe”, but fans’ opinion of their boss was verging on perilous at half-time.

The former Burnley manager was in desperate need of a victory and needed to change the set-up or personnel in order to get a stranglehold in the game.

He took off Dane Jesper Lindstrom, who struggled badly in his 45 minutes, and replaced him with Jack Harrison, which worked wonders for the side.

McNeil’s first goal was a pot shot out of the blue two minutes into the second period, giving Henderson no chance, while Harrison provided the assist for their next goal by picking out his team-mate at the far post.

Star centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite made his first appearance of the season and showed no issues of the groin injury which has held him back, as Everton added to their good record over Palace, with only one defeat in their past 20 meetings.

Glasner and Palace have work to do

The situation can change around very quickly in football.

This time last week it seemed as though Palace co-owner John Textor was set to swap ownership of clubs and head to Goodison Park, but that looks to have been ended by the Friedkin Group.

Meanwhile, Austrian boss Glasner was lauded after being appointed in February and leading the club to a 10th place finish following a string of impressive results.

But it has been a different story this season, failing to win any of their opening six games and unable to hold on after taking the lead for the first time this season.

Palace controlled the first half after Guehi’s opportunistic strike, with pass master Adam Wharton showcasing why he is an England international at 20 years of age by pulling the strings in the centre of the park.

But they failed to add to their goal, Eberechi Eze’s low strike was their best effort but it was comfortable for Everton keeper Jordan Pickford to deal with, as the Eagles returned home to London empty handed.

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