everton wins
Football

Everton FC crush Crystal Palace FC to grab a 3-0 victory

With a 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Goodison Park, Everton delivered an eye-catching team display of elegance and determination to get their season back on track.

On 11 minutes, Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored his first goal since his historic winner against Palace in May, turning Marc Guehi on the outside of the box and arrowing a precise finish past Vicente Guaita.

Frank Lampard’s side needed to be strong to hold the visitors at away in the early parts of the second half, before two magnificent goals clinched victory, with Anthony Gordon tapping home from close range after a move involving the majority of the royal blue players.

On 84 minutes, replacement Dwight McNeil put the game beyond question by playing a one-two with Alex Iwobi, collecting the Nigerian’s exquisite backheel, and scoring inside the box.

Lampard kept the same starting lineup from the narrow midweek defeat at Newcastle, which meant Calvert-Lewin would continue to lead the Blues’ assault, supported by Gordon and Demarai Gray.

The attacking trio wasted no time in getting involved, cheered on by the Goodison throng as Everton raced out of the blocks.

With three minutes remaining, James Tarkowski found Gray down the left side with what has quickly become a signature long-range ball. The attacker ran down the touchline, cut inside, and fired in a low cross that Joachim Andersen needed to clear.

More pressure came from the wings as Gray chose to go high with his next delivery, looping in a cross with too much zip for Gordon standing at the back post.

On nine minutes, Amadou Onana demonstrated why Lampard and Evertonians alike esteem him so highly with a magnificent 30-yard low through pass to release Gordon down the right, whose low centre was cleared by Guehi.

Everton’s continuous pressure continued as Gray found space from 20 yards out to fire a low drive into Guaita’s clutches.

But the Blues would not be denied for long as Calvert-Lewin created and finished the opener.

In a matter of seconds, the striker combined grit and class, nicking the ball from Luka Milivojevic 30 yards from Palace’s goal and allowing Onana to feed Iwobi. The Nigerian, who was playing as a more advanced No.10, produced a fast inside pass to Calvert-Lewin on the outside of the box, who twisted Guehi and tucked a crisp finish into the left-hand corner.

There was no stopping the hosts, who had earned their advantage. Iwobi saw Gordon hugging the right touchline on 17 minutes and blasted a pass out to the Academy graduate, who punched the ball past Tyrick Mitchell and into Gray. The striker let the ball descend before hitting a half-volley that Palace stopped.

It was 2-0 midway through the first half when Idrissa Gana Gueye combined with Vitalii Mykolenko and Alex Iwobi before bursting inside and extending to set up Gordon, whose powerful 20-yard shot was deflected over the bar by Guaita.

The intensity eased slightly as the half-hour mark neared, only for referee Simon Hooper to suspend play for a collision of heads between Conor Coady and Milivojevic in the Palace area with Everton on the offensive. When play restarted, the ball was delivered to the visitors. When Mykolenko and Andersen needed treatment in the Blues’ box moments later… As play resumed, Palace were awarded the ball on halfway, much to the delight of the home fans.

Gordon and Calvert-Lewin had half-chances, and Everton needed to be careful that Palace’s formidable counter-attacking threat did not erase all of their good work in the first half. However, when three minutes of extra time were signalled, Lampard’s team comfortably made their way to the interval invigorated by a job well done.

After Everton dominated the first half, it was the visitors who dominated the second, and an equaliser almost came on 51 minutes when, seconds after Mykolenko made a brave block inside the area to deny Odsonne Edouard, Jordan Ayew cut a pass across goal from Michael Olise, only to see his close-range finish turned over the bar by the leg of Coady.

The Blues needed a reaction, and it arrived four minutes later, when Gana’s brilliant through pass found Gray in the centre. When Iwobi appeared the better option on the opposite side, the former Leicester player chose to play in Calvert-Lewin via the left inside the box, and the England international was driven wide as he rounded Guaita.

With an hour gone, Olise curled a free-kick on the right outside of the box onto the top of Palace’s net, with Patrick Vieira making the game’s first substitutions seconds afterwards, replacing Olise and Milivojevic with Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jeffrey Schlupp.

However, as the visitors tried for a way back into the game, it was taken away from them by a superb second goal for the Blues on 63 minutes.

Pickford launched a fantastic free-flowing move on the right touchline as Calvert-Lewin, Iwobi, and Onana collaborated, allowing Gray to slip a pass down the box to Mykolenko in acres of space. Guaita parried the left-low back’s finish, leaving Gordon with the simple chore of collecting the rebound from two yards out.

The celebrations were halted short when the linesman raised his offside flag, but after VAR intervened to establish the forward was definitely onside, they resumed as Goodison Stadium exploded.

Six minutes later, the Grand Old Lady erupted again, this time not for a goal, but after Tarkowski chased Mateta down the right channel before finishing with a crushing tackle on the byline that resulted in a goal-kick.

There was still time for a few more heavy tackles from both teams before Everton’s first replacements, Dwight McNeil replacing Gray and James Garner and Neal Maupay replacing Onana and Calvert-Lewin.

If Everton’s second goal was flawless teamwork, the third was pure cheek as three points were secured six minutes from time.

McNeil came in from the left, passed inside the box to Iwobi, and instead of shooting, the Nigerian chose a silky backheel for McNeil to slam home after bursting into the box.

It was a top-class goal from a top-class effort that restored the Blues’ confidence and brought back the feel good factor.

Kajal S

Kajal S

kajal

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