Crystal Palace their own worst enemy as stubborn Everton steal a point at Selhurst Park

Referee Anthony Taylor gifted Everton their first equaliser before Palace's defence handed them their second in a messy afternoon at Selhurst Park

Oumar Niasse was handed Everton's equaliser on a plate by Palace (Getty)

At the end of a week in which Everton suffered several setbacks in their search for a new manager, David Unsworth did little to enhance his job prospects while Roy Hodgson was handed another reminder that if Crystal Palace are to avoid relegation, they will have to take the long road round to survival.

Unsworth oversaw a stubborn display against Crystal Palace that, while it earned his side a point, will hardly promote his cause to replace Ronald Koeman on a permanent basis.

It is now approaching five weeks since Everton sacked Koeman and, on this evidence, the prolonged uncertainty is not helping at Goodison Park.

Everton were poor against Palace and were handed two equalisers - one from a contentious penalty and another from a mistake from Palace defender Scott Dann - that their overall display probably did not deserve in the pouring south London rain.

Unsworth will point to the way Everton held firm under sustained Palace pressure in the second half but this result leaves the Toffees in relegation trouble.

It leaves Everton three points above the relegation zone and may force Farhad Moshiri, the club’s major shareholder, to hasten his search for a new manger next week.

Everton this week failed in an approach to hire Marco Silva and Sam Allardyce also ruled himself out of the running for the role.

Unsworth must wait for Moshiri and chairman Bill Kenwright to decide their next move.

For Hodgson and Palace, this felt like a missed opportunity. The Eagles were the better side for most of the game but two key moments cost them what would have been a vital three points in their bid to climb of the foot of the Premier League table.

A point means they are three points adrift at the bottom and five from safety.

Unsworth, who has made no secret of his desire to take over at Everton on a full-time basis, saw Everton offer Watford £10million for Silva this week and he would have been fearing the worst when he side suffered a nightmare start and fell behind inside one minute.

Jordan Pickford saved from Ruben Loftus-Cheek but he could only parry into the path of James McArthur, who tapped home from close range.

But a harsh penalty five minutes later gave Everton an equaliser.

Wilfried Zaha scored Palace's second but was ultimately frustrated (Getty 2017)

Oumar Niasse threw himself to the ground when there appeared to be little contact from Dann and referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot.

It looked soft and Niasse, who almost joined Palace on during the previous transfer window, could face retrospective action from the FA.

A Premier League player has yet to be banned under the new diving regulations but the FA will almost certainly look into this incident.

Leighton Baines made no mistake from the spot and Everton were level.

Palace were aggrieved and their frustration almost increased when Niasse forced Julian Speroni into a smart save on 17 minutes to keep the scores level.

But Palace went back ahead when Wilfried Zaha converted a brilliant cross from Joel Ward from the right.

Zaha has looked like a player on a personal quest to rescue Palace since he returned from injury and the goal lifted the mood around the stadium.

Everton offered little in the way of a response until they were gifted a second equaliser in first-half stoppage time.


 David Unsworth appears almost certain to miss out on the permanent job 
 (Getty)

Speroni put Dann under pressure with a pass that he did not want, Gylfi Sigurdsson pounced to steal possession, feed Niasse and he calmly slotted past Speroni.

It was more than Everton had deserved for their showing but Unsworth will at least take comfort from the fact his side earned a point when they did not play well.

Everton stood firm under sustained Palace pressure to go home with a point but this was not the sort of performance that will convince Moshiri to give him the job on a full-time basis.

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Crystal Palace (4-4-2): Speroni 6; Ward 7, Dann 5, Sakho 6, Schlupp 6; Loftus-Cheek 6, Cabaye 7, Milivojevic 7, McArthur 7 (Benteke 75 5); Townsend 7, Zaha 7.

Subs not used: Tomkins, Hennessey, Souare, Fosu-Mensah, Sako, Puncheon.

Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford 6; Kenny 5, Jagielka 6, Keane 6, Baines 6; Gueye, Schneiderlin 5 (Davies 46 5); Lennon 7 (Sandro 75); Sigurdsson 6; Lookman 5 (Calvert-Lewin 46 5); Niasse 5.

Subs not used: Williams, Rooney, Martina, Davies, Robles.