Jack Grealish Late Winner Ends Palace's 19-Game Unbeaten Run!

Everton’s incredible second-half comeback aided a 2-1 defeat over Crystal Palace, putting an end to the Eagles’ 19-game unbeaten run!

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Lineups:

Everton:

Pickford

Mykolenko

Keane

Tarkowski

O'Brien

Garner

Gueye

Dibling

Ndiaye

Grealish

Barry

Crystal Palace:

Henderson

Guehi

Lacroix

Richards

Mitchell

Kamada

Wharton

Munoz

Pino

Sarr

Mateta

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An unexpected result that was very unlikely prior to kickoff, and from the poor performance Moyes’ starting 11 put on, it seemed like the Blues had no chance of a revival at halftime. It didn’t take long for Palace to dominate play, with their first real clear-cut chance coming in the 26th minute through Tyrick Mitchell, who was free to roam towards Pickford in net. When the Englishman reached the penalty area, with Irish defender Jake O’Brien closing in on the 26-year-old, Mitchell attempted to smash one into the top left-hand corner; luckily for Everton, the ball struck the crossbar and headed out for a goal kick. One minute later and Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta was through on goal. One-on-one with the goalkeeper, and due to the angle not going in the Frenchman’s favour, Pickford was able to prevent an opener.

The overload of pressure Glasner’s side put on the Toffees meant it was inevitable that soon enough the Eagles would go ahead, which is exactly what occurred in the 37th minute. Palace’s counterattack, led by Ismaila Sarr, left a three-on-two, with Mykolenko and Keane scrambling to retain their shape. Sarr eventually laid it off to Daniel Munoz running down the right wing, and he hit it past Pickford on a first-time finish, giving Palace the lead before the break.

Whatever David Moyes said in the changing rooms clearly was motivational, as the players seemed to come out roaring. Two tactical substitutions at the break, Beto in replacement for Barry and Alcaraz for Dibling, were arguably what changed the game completely. However, it was a shaky first 15 minutes for the Blues, as perhaps the Eagles should have scored two through Mateta. The first chance occurred when the striker was through on goal, with the Frenchman chipping it over the goalkeeper. What looked to be a certain goal was ruled out when Jake O’Brien intercepted the ball, clearing it out via a header before the ball could trickle past the goal line. The second came only a few minutes later when the 28-year-old had the ball inside the penalty area, with Pickford on the other side of the box due to the frantic play prior. From about 7 yards out, Mateta somehow managed to fluff the shot, sending it just wide of the left-hand post!

From then on, it was all Everton. Carlos Alcaraz’s rocket of a shot on the solo break was saved by Henderson’s cat-like reflexes from the Palace goalkeeper, as the shot seemed to be heading to the top left-hand corner of the South Stand net. Everton’s pressure continued as a chipped through ball into the path of Beto, which found its way into the penalty area, was intercepted by Lacroix, but not before Tim Iroegbunam was able to get in the way, meaning the Palace defender completed a lunging challenge of the Everton player, leading to a huge penalty opportunity, which was the responsibility of Iliman Ndiaye…

The Senegalese international calmly stepped up to the ball before carefully placing the ball into the bottom left-hand corner, sending Henderson the wrong way, giving some hope for the Toffees!

Into the 3rd minute of additional time now, and Everton were on top. Ndiaye received the ball on the right-hand side within the penalty area, completely fooling Palace substitute Jefferson Lerma, and crossed the ball across the goal. Beto was there, towering above everyone else, as many of the Palace defence watched in shock. At the same time, the Eagles goalkeeper was putting in the effort to prevent the ball from crossing the line, doing so partially due to the Portuguese striker’s poor placement of the header. In the midst of Glasner’s defence attempting to smash the ball away from danger, many Everton players were running into the box to not let the chance go astray, with one of them being Jack Grealish. The Crystal Palace goal scorer, Daniel Munoz, attempted to boot the ball away from around 6 yards out, but Grealish got in the way, placing his foot in the way of the ball, redirecting the ball into the back of the net, giving Everton an unexpected lead!

The referee continued play until the 103rd minute, although only 8 minutes of additional time was displayed by the fourth official, which allowed Palace to have a chance or not; fortunately for David Moyes, none of them caused any major threat. Soon enough, Michael Salisbury blew his whistle, marking a huge three points for the Toffees and confirming Palace’s 19-game unbeaten run as over.

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Thank you for reading my post-match article!