A fantastic road win again for the Dyche-ball demons

COYBLUES!

Can't wait to get Seamus back and that sums up our right-back dilemma.

As he has done in the past and possibly lost us points and momentum.

Brighton away, Patterson had Mitoma under control. He is a decent player and deserves a run in the team.

Horrible game – blatant diving over and over again by Palace, spoiling the game.

While that was a definite penalty, I didn't see the goal kick as like the TV I thought Pickford would be his usual 2 or 3 minutes taking the kick but it went live again as Eze cut across Mykolenko, how did he get the ball?

While there has been two late offside calls for what was fairly obvious, this ref in his first Premier League match has done well with the possible exception of bottling Eze's second yellow. And the VAR either should look at everything quickly or look at nothing at all. If it takes them several minutes, angles and replays then it can't be an obvious error.

For all that, an entertaining game and Palace have a few players capable of beating players.

I just want Beto to score!

Another International Break, disrupts any possible momentum again. Great game to watch for Blues and neutrals alike.

Tremendous win. A real humdinger of a game. First time in a very very long time when I might actually watch this one back!

Valuable 3 points, had a high press that worked but dropping back almost cost us, in fact it did with the second goal stuff up but a win is a win.

Up until he ducked under the ball for their second, Tarkowski was my MotM for us but I was surprised to learn that, had Mykolenko's shot gone in rather than hit the post, he would have been our joint leading scorer instead of joint second behind Doucoure.

Then after nearly scoring an own-goal, Gana of all people puts one in the other end. I was surprised at Young's substitution and not because Patterson came on but I'd have thought another defender in place of Harrison, McNeil or Doucoure.

An exciting game and Palace have some good ball players but what a joy to get not only 3 goals but 3 points.

We nearly messed things up by having far too much possession — 34%! :)

Well done, Blues.

A very hard fought win, it was a real battle and we certainly have a team spirit these days. I thought Eze dived for the penalty, was the softest I've seen since the last one against us… should have been off for two dives IMO, but he's some player.

A couple of weeks ago, I said that if Mykolenko could develop his attacking game then we'd have a cracking full-back on our hands – 2 goals and an ‘assist' later in two games is a cracking bit of development!

Well done to the travelling faithful, you're all immense and deserve this run of London wins.

Der Bomber

Never a penalty and he probably should have been sent off if it were one of the many idiot referees we have in the Premier League. This one is new and obviously has common sense so he stayed on. COYB

I'll keep my thoughts from myself in the future.

(Apologies to Bert Bacharach)

Very pleased for him and us!

After two years of misery, we're slowly looking like a proper football team. Now about keeping possession under pressure…

I wish Dyche got a bit more respect, though. Compare that today to when we got hammered at the same ground under Lampard. He's had very little resources but improved a lot of our players and instilled a much better mentality.

He kept us up last season when we seemed destined for the Championship. We just need more home wins and we'll be fine this season.

Happy Days.

What the Fuck?!!

Jarrad Branthwaite – can you actually get MotM even though giving away a penalty? Dude is easily worth £80 to 100 million. He's absolutely fantastic.

Eze – Lord I'd have that guy in my side all day long. He was an absolute terror. Such a talented kid, has to stop the diving! But jeez he is a fantastic player.

Gana - GET IN!!! So happy for him.

What a game, what a result.

I love Sean Dyche, but the man has to make subs a bit earlier for sure.

Gana going all Iniesta on us. Good character shown to keep bouncing back. Even if they dock us 12 points we are only 4 points from safety!

I'd like to see a bit more creativity from Harrison and McNeil but can't argue with a win.

Careful - that might stick!

My only real beef with Dyche is the subs, not only who they turn out to be, but most of all the timing. Another break when we need to cement a decent league position.

I've never seen a team like Palace for a long time, throwing themselves to the floor at every opportunity. Like I said earlier, blatant cheating – and yet again a ref making his own rule of not booking a player for a second yellow card, because he had already booked him.

We got there in the end but it could have gone so wrong, change needed to come before their second goal, Harrison and Young were goosed, protect our lead.

A tactical change was needed so doing a straight swap Calvert-Lewin for Beto did not change any system, with the like-for-like swap. Okay, we got a winner and no one more made up than me, but boy my nerves were tested to the full, until Patterson came on.

I will take that win today, but it would be wrong not to comment about how we nearly threw it away with dithering with subs.

Up the Toffees.

I feel like Gueye was overdue to tuck one in at some point – he picked a heck of a time to do it.

In spite of the diving, Eze flat-out terrorized us, particularly in the first half – he and Olise are real talents.

Apologies to Willie Nelson

Great 3 points. Slag off Dyche as much as you want.
Slag off his brand of footy. With what he's working with, he's getting the best out of them.

Well done everyone today.

Blue blue my love is blue
Gana winner what…the fuck can you do.

Blind Al Wilson:

Well im so tired of whinin' when
We fucking won again
Won on the road again.

The break actually might work in our favor.

A week for a relatively shallow team to rest and get healthy.

A week for Dyche to prepare.

I'm not sure it's all that bad? For a fan it's frustrating, but I'm not so sure the break isn't a good thing for Everton?

That is some change from the same players that were flirting with disaster not so long ago.

Man City.

At last we threatened in the final quarter in the final third, getting the space and opportunities to run into it.

Drifting into the space between defenders great touch to find enough space in the central danger zone, and bang into the corner, goalkeeper no chance.

Gana take a bow, a moment of unexpected class won the game, when a slightly disappointing draw looked nailed on.

We won today without playing our best so Dyche has something to work on over the break.

Credit where it's due, however. One point from the first five games and I had us down.

Since then, we've only lost to Arsenal and Liverpool. Thirteen points from seven games is a great effort and top-half-of-the-table form.

Now if only we'd signed a striker in the summer and took the chances against Fulham and Wolves, we would be easily Top 10, blah blah, moan moan.

First time since Ancelotti, I feel quite good about Everton.

Oops.

Hopefully this is a turning point. Thought we'd surrender or settle for a point. We would have in the past. Fortune favours the brave.

We had a dogshit start to the season even if you could argue we maybe got a little unlucky in a couple of games and we were missing key forward players.

But since the low point of a dismal performance against Arsenal, in all competitions we have P9 W6 D1 L2

We carry on in that vein and we are in a much better place.

It wasn't that long ago people were insisting we had the worst full-backs in the league and both needed replacing.

Well, Mykolenko has rounded into form nicely and I'm confident Patterson will do the same when he gets his chance.

Sensational win. Love our away fans. We are moving on up!

I have to admit Sean Dyche has done a good job with the team. I thought this season would take us down. I am more optimistic now, cause the change in the players attitude and performance is obvious.

And even Gana got a goal?! That's improvement!!!

I wrote only a couple of games ago that Mykolenko was a brilliant defender but needed to improve going forwards to be considered a modern-day full-back.

As I'm such a good coach, I'm going to remind Dom and Beto that they only need to score a couple of goals every game between them to be great strikers.

Very happy with our away form, just need to get the home form right and we'll be a solid team.

You said the other week Mykolenko was the best defensive left-back in the Premier League.

I think in the last couple of games, he can now be called the best left-back in the Premier League.

Now very close to Doucouré as our leading scorer!!

Being effective means much more than occupying a little patch of grass in the centre of the pitch attempting the odd interception amidst opposition flying by.

Well-worked goal though and great result… although I can see that Palace lad who got the penalty moving to Liverpool when Salah jets off. Which is worrying because he ripped us a new one.

My heart is in my mouth in these games. At 1-1 and 2-2, we kept possession better and looked to try and win the game. At 0-1 and 1-2, we sit back and knock it about like an Under-11 team bringing pressure upon ourselves.

Tarkowski must have got a shout for their 2nd. No other reason why he ducked under the ball.

Eze looks like he could develop into a Zaha, the first penalty is harsh on Branthwaite and the refereeing inconsistencies surface again when he books Eze for a dive for a similar touch from Branthwaite.

It would have been a good game for the neutral, end-to-end stuff and a great feeling to be on the right side of one for a change.

Doucoure was my MotM, nonstop running, a goal and assist.

UTFT.

Great win and looking forward to MotD tonight. Hope Seamus is back after the break. Onwards and upwards.

Young was solid today, as he was against Brighton (own-goal was a fluke and bad luck). Patterson was our worst player at the start of the season, and Dyche rightly wants to bring him along slowly. He's repeated many times how highly he rates 'Patto' but wants to give him the chance to learn.

Look how many players have improved under Dyche already: McNeil, Mykolenko, Onana, Doucoure, Garner are all so much better now. Patterson will also get there.

Dyche is taking away some of the pressure that was killing him at the start of the season. We will reap the benefits of that for years to come. So support Young whilst he helps us with that this season. He won't be here next season.

“Apologies to Bert Bacharach” — fuck Bert Bacharach… what about the rest of us!

Very happy with today's result; it would have been a long fortnight to the next game without that result and Sean Dyche's ears would have been burning with even a draw.

Happy tonight and tomorrow morning waking up with a smile. Happy days are coming again?

So, hats off to Dyche and his staff, and to the players for buying into his philosophy and work ethic of going for 90 minutes plus, defending resolutely and taking our chances when we have them.

Onana and Doucoure deserve their praise, along with the full-backs, with Pickford there to do his bit when necessary.

Keep the momentum going and we may be Top 10 or, Top 6.

I've always been a big Mykolenko fan as well. When he signed, his country was at war not long after he signed. He was in a foreign country playing for a struggling team, probably worried sick about his family and friends. He's really stepping up this season, along with Onana who would always be the first name on my team sheet.

I'm made up for Mykolenko cos he was getting abused by some of our fans. For me, he is excellent defensively, and now he is chipping in attack-wise as well. Excellent header today and a cracking volley that hit the post before Doucoure's goal.

Anyway, great result today! UTFT 💙

Now on the M25 heading home, so hopefully should be back around 11 pm. Give me time to reflect on the match overall, but in the meantime, a few cans to be had for an enjoyable journey home. COYB.

Yes, I thought it was a mistake but have a look at the photo on the top of this thread!

After a few seasons of languishing at the bottom of the Premier League, it's a massive relief to see the gap between the bottom few and us – a ‘mid-table team' expand!

Get into the new stadium, Premier League status intact, with new owners and a core of a young team to build upon. Feels like we're on the upward side of that shit curve we've been on. Enjoy, fellow Blues!

What an exciting match, and our 12th man were doing their job brilliantly. They deserved the joy at the end.

Our team never gave in, they fought until the end of the match, and got their deserved reward. Every one of them pulled their tripes out for each other. I don't think Crystal Palace believed how much we kept coming back at them. I'm proud of all of them and chuffed to bits they got their much deserved reward.

Great stuff all. Perhaps we'll have a good chance of meeting whatever that's thrown at us.

Excellent!

A draw would have been acceptable but not enough, given our upcoming fixtures between now and Christmas. The 3 points today gives the team and the supporters something to bite on, and when Man Utd roll into town after the International break, we should all be up for it, which to be frank we usually are when they come visiting.

Although, in my opinion, we have given United far too much respect in recent years.

A good December and we might be whispering about a top-half finish and an opportunity to get to a final. What we can't afford is any sort of complacency to creep into the squad as we found out last season.

It's far too easy to slip back into that drop-zone, although we are far better off at this stage with a bit of a buffer between us and the other likely relegation candidates. Please god we can focus on those teams above us and begin to target them, rather than worrying about the likes of Bournemouth beating Newcastle and other such results.

Niasse must be laughing tonight, given Hodgson condemned his penalty 'dive' that got him a retrospective ban – still the only player to receive one, if memory serves.

Well done Dyche, his staff and the players. 14th – nose bleed time.

Next game is Man Utd. We can't afford to sit back and let them dominate possession like we did Brighton. Go at them and attack. Score goals and get the points.

Loved that Gana not only got his goal, but also chose not to shoot on Doucoure’s goal, which he too often does and it goes 30 rows up. Even if he didn’t mean to pass to Mykolenko. What more can I say about Myko than to eat crow, as I was certainly a doubter from the beginning. It’s been a good lesson in giving players time to see him evolve.

We should be praising that referee up and down today, even if he let Eze off the hook for the second yellow. If he blows for a second penalty against Branthwaite — and the first was absolutely a pen, for all the doubters — it doesn’t get reversed on review. So I’ll take that over the second yellow to him. As for Branthwaite, he was due to have a less good game, but I’m hoping he was a bit slow because he was carrying a knock and will be back to full strength in 2 weeks. And as for Tarkowski, I wonder whether Edouard shouted something like “leave it” or “keeper” to fool him, or if he misheard Pickford telling him to clear it; otherwise it’s just a big gaffe, which he’s allowed for how good he is week in and week out.

Say what you will about Dyche and tactics and subs and all of it, but we certainly haven’t felt this good about our Blues in a few years, so even the haters better find a way to give him a bit of credit. We’re still crying out for a playmaker with top speed, like Eze, but we’re doing our best right now with what we’ve got. Stay healthy and we’ll keep getting better.

A great result today. Dyche talks a lot about ‘feel' in his interviews and I do think we are getting a different feel this season. This is an Everton team that is beginning to form an identity. It's not always pretty, we won't often boss possession (!), and it may mean that we struggle sometimes against other teams that sit back. But, this team will fight hard, will not be easy to play against and will be able to grind out results.

At some point in the future, I'd love to see Everton take good care of the ball and control games but for now, whilst we are in desperate need for stability and solidity, I'm all for Dyche-ball!

On the Assists list, we now have Harrison, with 3.

We've also been between positions 12 and 8 in the form table for the last 6 weeks consecutive. We're now at that point where continued good results will start to noticeably lift us in the table, having fought our way out of the suction of the relegation mire.

Pivotal month ahead, with some demanding fixtures. Nice to be looking forward to it.

I am on the train today which has ended up much better than I thought. Although Victoria was a nightmare with some of the underground entrances closed due to the sheer volume of people. There was a pro-Palestine demo in London today which didn't help, but otherwise no issues.

Cracking game and brilliant result, I thought Eze was lucky not to get a second yellow. And Rob's right, the away section was bedlam when Gana scored.

Looks like I will get into Crewe at 8:20 and home for 8:45. Impressed with the train!

ps: You have to feel for Gordon. Oh hang on, no you don't.

Shoulda been two penalties, no dives, and no yellow card. But we don't often get them going our way I guess, so no complaints here at the utter incompetence and inconsistency of the VAR in this instance.

Worrying for us, though, that it was the same defender, our young and upcoming Jarrad Branthwaite. Methinks he might benefit from a bit more coaching on the right way to tackle.

He inherited a dysfunctional group of players recruited by various managers with no set pattern of play. Players seemed disillusioned, some not that bothered, some not properly fit, some wanting to leave, some not good enough, and some whose confidence was shot.

There was no fight, no team ethic, and a resigned air of hopelessness. With no money to spend and little coming up through the ranks (Jarrad Branthwaite excepted), he has blended this rag-arsed mix into a team which will fight and can score goals too.

Okay, so we don't have a constructive midfielder as yet but what he has done with Doucoure is quite remarkable turning him into a goal-scoring central midfielder which will do until we can find someone better.

Sean has worked miracles and, whilst I look forward to seeing a skilled team in the future, all that matters now is we get points on the board – the rest will come in time!

He is a really good diver. Gerrardesque.

If you watch Crystal Palace enough you'll see they love grazing the grass.

I thought when we bought Docuoure that his ability to get into the box and score the odd goal was precisely why we purchased him. He scored 16 in his first three full seasons at Vicarage Road, in a not very good side.

I thought he'd score more at Goodison, but again he's been part of a not very good side. He himself said after today's game that goal-scoring wasn't his job. I would argue that, apart from the keeper, it's every player's job to try and grab the odd goal here and there.

A great if somewhat strange day.

I had a fall down the stairs and cracked my head. The medics looked after me and called an ambulance. No chance. I was back in to watch us bring the points home and soak up that wonderful atmosphere as the players came over at the end.

Well done, Everton. More well done travelling Blue Army. Magnificent. The young lad on his dad's shoulders singing at the end made my headache go away. He could only have been about 6.

Blue Pride.

I think there's an argument to be made that Eze embellished the touch on the second one, kind of throwing his legs in the air a bit to get the call, which I think is what led the referee to book him. I agree, though, that Branthwaite nicked him.

The first one is just a clear penalty all day long, no arguments. But like you said, Michael, we deserve to catch a break now and again.

Really? In the first incident, the guy just played for it, getting a penalty was a far easier option than going for goal. As for the second, it simply wasn't an offence under the rules of the game.

The post after yours, from Dave #96, showed a far more intelligent understanding of the game of football.

Rob #75, sorry you were late to the game but heartiest congratulations to you and the traveling gang -- you were in spectacular voice today, not just loud but in tune!

Christy #68, yeah, the guy who never scores wins the game off an inch-perfect pass from the guy who can't pass -- and they both did it with their left. Anybody suggesting that before it happened would have been carted off to the funny farm.

Matt #62, I had exactly the same thought.

Danny #99, glad you have a hard head, mate.

Told you we need a striker!!!

Very good. Your perspective is spot on.

Danny you're a real trooper.

Well done,

I hope your head is okay.

Just saw a graphic on Sky, that only United have had more goals scored by non-forwards than Everton, 10 of our 14 goals have been scored by non-forwards. I assume they mean by forwards, out-and-out strikers such as Dominic rather than forward players such as Harrison or McNeil.

Tremendous Evertonian support, and well done, all those who went the game today.

Danny, I hope your head's okay, and you're enjoying this evening, and all celebrate well, another great Everton away win.

Hope you're okay, definitely sounded serious.

I see where Jamie O'Hara said clubs will be sniffing around Branthwaite, should offer him a new contract. You'd think a TalkSport pundit would know he signed a new contract last month?

You're right, I don't understand much about the modern game.

But I do know that, if you're a defender, and you stick out a leg as an attacker runs past you with the ball to run into, causing him to trip, lose his footing, and fall to the ground inside the penalty area, then some referees might feel that's a penalty.

Similarly, if you are an attacker, dribbling with the ball inside the area, and a defender's foot catches your boot, causing you to trip, lose your footing, and fall to the ground, some referees will call it a dive, even though it really should be a penalty.

It's starting now on Game of the Day, Sky 402. I suggest you watch it again. Concentrate on the slo-mo replays. It may help your understanding of what can happen on a football pitch. Just saying.

Selhurst Park is a tough place to play, but I imagine it's far easier when Spirit of the Blues is drowning out the home supporters time and again, as was the case today.

I've not seen MotD for a while, but will tonight. This is what it is about!! Love it!!!

Let's enjoy the rest of our weekend.

I think Peter struck a nerve!

For the record, I didn't refer to “the modern game”, but “the game of football”. There is a huge gulf between the two, unless I have to accept its descent into nonsense.

Notwithstanding the above, I love Everton and, like you, am made up with today's result.

Only because Michael left it dangling.

Danny, you looked and sounded well when I saw you at the end of the game. I trust you remain that way.

I am pleased Dyche is receiving support on here. He has put together a group of regular starters in whom he has trust. That small group will come under intense pressure next month with a heavy fixture load amid the inevitable toll of injuries and suspensions.

I hope fans then remember Dyche is not a magician. The squad still lacks strength in depth. That will at some stage cause a dip in results not because the manager is a dinosaur but because he doesn't have enough players available.

In the meantime I am enjoying, points wise, being nearer to European qualification than relegation.

I've only watched the clips once but I thought the ref got the first dive wrong and the second dive correct, but that's because “dive” is what I thought the Palace player did twice.

Football, the greatest game in the world, it was called the beautiful game for good reasons, but it's become horrible now imo, because cheating has become very, very, very acceptable. 👎

I think Eze dived for them both, we've had far worse turned down regularly and the penalty was as soft as they come. As usual, it's all subjective!

Well happy with another 3 points.

Danny, hope you're okay, mate. Everton winning is a great tonic so fingers crossed you're home and happy.

Dyche is doing okay for now, no doubt the bubble will burst - they always do.

All we can do is take it one game at a time.

I hate International breaks, but will take the R&R aspect.

Onwards and... well onwards anyway.

I agree with that post, because I think that Dyche has done an absolutely incredible job, especially when “considering the circumstances” of what he inherited as you quite rightly point out mate.

Everton Football Club was on its knees. The season before, Lampard and the players were helped massively by the fans but, when Dyche was given the job, us fans were absolutely on our knees, and I think it was an incredible achievement keeping Everton in the Premier League.

It seems that Dyche was aware of the situation he inherited, and this became apparent when he told everyone that he would have never got a chance to manage Everton if they hadn't been in such a mess.

With no airs and no graces, he has simply rolled up his sleeves and got the players fighting for the Everton shirt. This is slowly giving us back a bit of pride and belief, and an understanding that nothing is achieved without hard bloody work.

Not everyone has to like the manager, but surely they must like the effort that Dyche's players are producing?

it's been a long time since Everton weren't pushovers, and although it might not always be pretty, it's surely a lot less soul-destroying than the last few seasons have been.

As you know I served in the Royal Navy, and also a short time in the Merchant Navy too, and still do my bit aboard the Danny! I really enjoyed today's game, and was so proud to hear you boys out-sing the home fans !

Pity there is yet another International Break, personally getting sick of them interrupting both momentum and running the risk of injury to key players. Never remember so many of them in years gone by!

The effort levels of the players are commendable and we are reaping the rewards.

For me there's a feel of 1983, and I see a Top 10 finish at least, with hopefully good fortune with injuries and suspensions.

Everton are on track and making progress on the park, and long may it continue.

UTFTs!

Can I just add to that the reduction in squad size and selling off our best players. The main thing I see Dyche has improved is the belief, confidence and togetherness that hasn't been evident since Moyes left.

My only concern is the way we fall back and defend after going ahead when we look so good on the front foot but I'm sure he will fix that in time.

Defending for their 2nd was atrocious but all-in-all we're looking a serious unit these days – team spirit is great and the feeling in the stands feeds off this but why the fcuk are the refs so determined to see us fail?

Palace is fast becoming my fave away ground with the auld Irish barmaid welcoming me like her long lost son and so happy that a grand day out wasn't, for the 3rd time on the trot, spoiled by the game! I'm getting used to this winning away shit but let's not get carried away! UTFT

Whilst it was not a statement win in the true meaning of the word, it did come against a fully-committed Premier League side on their own patch, who have some really tricky players in their ranks and a few canny old pros such as Hughes and Jordan Ayew.

I also feel that if one of the more experienced Premier League officials had have been in charge today, many of the decisions that went for us, might have been interpreted differently and therefore the result could have been very different too.

The previous victories at Villa, Brentford and West Ham, were cast aside by some, as they came, supposedly, against teams who had an off day and didn't perform to their full potential.

What I'd like to see, but probably won't, is for Everton to have a real go at the more fancied teams at Goodison in the next month or so.

It's just a pity we have no player in our ranks with the trickery or speed of some of the Palace players – it would make such a difference to our forward play.

What I'd also like to see before the end of this year, is for Goodison, all 30-odd thousand of them to get behind the team as much as the away following do, because that could be the difference between getting good outcomes rather than bad ones.

Early days still, but there are signs of a proper team emerging, even if the skill levels still leave quite a bit to be desired.

I bet my house to row 25 that it wasn't! Can I go home on principle at least?

I decided to work and listen on the radio, because that's what I did for the West Ham game and we won, so the funniest thing today was when VAR was checking Doucoure's goal for offside. I heard a huge roar and it was that loud I thought the Palace fans were celebrating the goal being disallowed.

I was just about to swear, when the commentator said it's been given but because I genuinely don't expect Everton to be in any danger this season, I'm just living in hope that one of my prophecies finally comes true, and every Evertonian under the age of 35, who has stood the test of time, can finally celebrate the Toffees finally winning a trophy (once again).

If life has taught me anything, then you don't get anywhere without a bit of belief, so please get believing comrades!!

If we are going to become winners once again then what Barry H says in his second to last paragraph@137 is absolutely essential.

I watched the game via a stream, while technically it was a penalty, I believe the player (Eze) was looking for it. I also believe certain teams/players are very adept at getting their timing right, to make it look stone-wall.

Strange too, that no player since Niasse has ever been booked for simulation, who I still believe was genuinely brought down, through his momentum getting into the box.

Having said all that, I wouldn't mind if Eze was on our radar for future Transfer Shopping Lists.

I know Niasse was the first to fall foul of a rule and another player also got done for it, but was it purely for 'simulation'?

Niasse sparked controversy in the match by appearing to dive to win Everton a penalty, which was converted by Leighton Baines to make the score 1–1 in the first half. He subsequently became the first Premier League player to be charged with "successful deception of a match official" under The Football Association's new regulations. Everton appealed the verdict, but the FA rejected the appeal and Niasse received a two-match suspension.

Leeds striker Patrick Bamford has been banned for two matches by the Football Association after being found guilty of "successful deception of a match official" in the draw with Aston Villa.

Bamford went down as though he had been hit in the face by Anwar El Ghazi after Leeds' controversial opening goal.

Replays showed Villa's Dutch winger had made no contact with the head of the 25-year-old.

El Ghazi was sent off but had the red card rescinded on Tuesday.

Everton are tougher, fitter and mentally stronger as well as being better disciplined and organised. Quite happy to throw in a few cynical challenges (Mykolenko's lovey rugby tackle) shows a well-drilled outfit.

Fair play to Dyche. He's spent no real money and been forced to work with a limited squad with few genuine options from the bench. I honestly think we should look at the top half as a target and, if we were to lose 12 points, we could genuinely still survive given the abysmal levels shown by the Bottom 4 teams.

I can tell you, more than anything, that if someone hasn't refereed hundreds or thousands of games, they will have very little understanding of the rules, how they're interpreted, how referees are thinking, and so on. This includes players and coaches at every level, and especially fans. And all of those people have little idea just how difficult it is to ref the modern game — I do semi-pro and college and everything in between — especially at the highest level with how fast it is, and with how the VAR affects one's thinking.

For a referee in his 5th Premier League match ever, I thought he had a helluva match. He could've given a few more yellow cards, but generally he was consistent and he got the big calls correct. His biggest call of the match was the booking on Eze, which took some huge balls. I haven't looked at it dozens of times, but if there's contact and it affects the play, it's a penalty for a trip. I was very scared at the time VAR was going to intervene. I actually think his thinking may have been influenced by I think Schlupp going over easily in the first couple minutes, when he chose not to book him.

The first one on Eze is 100% a penalty, not even sure where the argument is against it.

Do players go over too easily nowadays? Of course they do. The reason they do is that, if they don't, they don't get the call, at every level. So it's been engrained in them to go down when tripped. But whatever arguments people want to make about whether either of those were penalties, Branthwaite's efforts on both were terrible. I can't feel bad for us with those challenges.

Lastly, I find it hilarious and petty when people are hurling insults at others for their interpretations of the refereeing, when most of the time, no one has much of a clue what's going on regarding rules or interpretations.

I agree, I thought the ref did well. It could have got out of control with Palace's arms flailing, diving etc but I thought he kept it under control, let it flow, and inevitably people will argue about a couple of decisions but I thought he was much better than the usual suspects.

Some of the decisions could have gone against us with a more experienced referee, and I don't mean that as a compliment. The likes of Pawson, Taylor etc would have been simply chosen the path of least resistance on big calls but he didn't. He called it as he saw it and I hope he doesn't change that approach.

A modern full-back has to offer crosses and assists, so I am really pleased to see him working on this aspect. He is also improving his defensive positional play since he partnered with Branthwaite on the left side of defence.

We paid far too much for Mykolenko and Patterson, but some cause for cautious optimism in Vitaliy's case. Ideally, I would like to give Patterson the chance to go on loan to develop in his role but there is zero chance of that happening with our scant resources.

I thought your son's mate “done good.” Watching the Eze dive booking, it looked to me like there was contact albeit minimal and Eze tried to carry on then when the ball got away from him he dived.

As Brian Wilkinson pointed out he could've given Eze a second yellow for the foul on Garner but in the moment maybe he didn't feel it was as cynical as it looked on TV.

Personally I was just delighted to see a new face instead of the usual suspects who somehow award a penalty against Keane or Holgate even if they're not playing.

My only gripe was that he wasn't giving us as many of the less consequential decisions as he gave to Palace and there were a couple of fouls he could have given us in dangerous areas but didn't.

But on the whole, I think he did pretty well.

Agreed about the referee seeming like he has a good head on his shoulders and hopefully a bright future. Pretty damn impressive at 30 years old. He was calm, assured, and seems pretty humble, at least compared to many of the pretty arrogant referees we’ve seen over the years who want to be the center of attention.

Anyone know if he’s had stellar performances his last 4 times out this season? I think he’s got what it takes, albeit based on very limited knowledge.

Also, I’m curious, Lyndon, which fouls you think he should’ve given us. The only two calls I remember being frustrated about were not awarding yellows for the foul on Beto where he would’ve been through along the touchline and the boot to the head of Tarkowski.

I was only 10 years old but I distinctly remember thinking “This bloke's a cunt”.

So I reckon from your personal experience and ours as fans. Once a Cunt, always a Cunt! Mind you, he wasn't and isn't alone!

He missed a blatant foul on Garner, which would have given us a free kick in a dangerous position and had Dyche incredulous on the touchline but, as we won, I don't mind… lol.

On reflection, you're right that the first was a penalty under the laws of the game; though it was very soft and Eze did a dying swan act to make it look worse than it was in real time. Branthwaite did make two bad challenges for both incidents, hopefully he learns from those and the bonus is that they didn't cost us any points.

I hate it when players argue with the ref, when I played Sunday League football I was always grateful that someone turned up on a Sunday and allowed us to play a proper match, so encouraged my team mates to be nice to the ref and take the decisions with good grace – I thought we might also get some benefit from it by not being gobshites!!

On Eze, is it a Palace culture? Has he been learning off Zaha who has been doing it for years, goes down easy and has a face like a smacked arse whenever anyone goes near him?

Doucoure. Just keep him forward. He will score.

Mykolenko. I've been a fan from the start of his Everton career. He's getting forward and scoring goals in the box as well as being a solid defender. Let's not forget his volley at Leicester away a couple of seasons ago. Plenty of potential there. And he is committed. Often the first over to the away supporters.

Branthwaite is learning and being guided by the de-facto captain Tarkowski.

As for Gueye. He assisted the assist for his goal. A player who I never want to shoot wins us the game. Shows what I know. Goals are not his thing but he does what it says on the tin.

Have a great rest of weekend, Blues. I'm off to the Cenotaph in London.

We are looking up now. Don't be surprised if we surprise some of the early-season predictions. Europe is not off the cards and we have two cup competitions to fight for.

Penalty & Branthwaite – composed

Gueye assisted the assister and a great finish.

Spirit of the Blues ringing out loud and proud at the end.

Football has got me beat at the minute though because those rules, which I agree are not understood by everyone, including the players, fans and coaching staff, are open to so much interpretation, and only the refs understand this!

You’re a qualified ref, and you think it’s a penalty, I am not a qualified ref, and I think the player cheated. I thought the player was very savvy, and you genuinely thought it was a penalty.

I’ve never been biased and if Everton would have got that penalty, I’d have still said our player was very clever, and I thought the referee got it wrong, but I do genuinely feel sorry for these referees nowadays, and I never thought I’d ever hear myself utter those words.

This is just one example of how different people have different interpretations but, after listening to the audio of the VAR incident, in the Tottenham v Liverpool game, I can't believe how more hasn't been made of how pathetic those officials sounded. Yesterday's gone – I know!

I think he's a good full-back and always have despite dips in form. He's probably improving because Dyche's attitude is defenders to defend first and foremost. The rest is bonus.

I used to despair that Digne was so very easy to run past, esepcially in tight spaces. And his goals and assists record in his latter part of his stay wasn't much. And I also think he lacked heart when he didn't fancy it.

Not much gets beyond Mykolenko a la Hibbert. I'm glad he's improving going forward.

Also need to remember what's been going on the background in his homeland for the past couple of years.

Probably just another curse of being a Goodison boo boy because the masses decide he's not good enough.
I'm made up for him.

As for Patterson. Why do fans insist on wanting to loan players out? Who else plays when there's injuries? Coleman is 35 and his recent fitness record is not great. This is the whole point of having a squad fit for purpose.

Patterson should be around the first team instead of being written off.

Happy for him. He has some skill to strike a volley. He laced well to hit the side of the ball.

Playing a settled side now. Let's get through to the next 6 weeks and hopefully we can add one or two players in the January window. Great result and the best run of results for almost two seasons. Onwards and upwards.

The referee got a few things wrong but nothing serious, a blatant foul on Harrison was let go and Garner was booked for a foul right after that in frustration that the referee hadn't given us a foul, so there were consequences.

For only his fifth game, he was very good; let's hope he stays as balanced as that for the rest of his career.

As Tony says (156), players cheating at every opportunity doesn't help referees and it is a hard job but the lack of consistency for the same offences in the same game still frustrates and upsets most of us and personal bias by referees definitely comes into it in my opinion.

Anyway, left-back is no longer a position we need to upgrade.

Hopefully we can see the same level of improvement from Patterson over the course of the season.

I've watched both incidents over & over again and Branthwaite definitely clips Eze on both occasions and we would be screaming from the rooftops if they went against us.

I actually thought the ref had a decent game to be fair, punished Eze with a booking for what he thought was simulation for the 2nd incident.

Talking of Eze, his first half performance was by miles the best performance by an opposition player against Everton this season and I would love to watch him week-in & week-out at Everton. However, having already been booked, he was very lucky not to get a 2nd yellow and be sent off.

On Everton, great win and a massive 3 points. We took our chances when they came, lovely ball by Harrison for the 1st that was just begging to be finished, which Mykolenko duly did.

We had a bit of luck with the 2nd, Idrissa Gueye's intended clip into the box somehow landed on Myko's left foot outside the box and his great strike fell kindly off the post to Doucouré who duly finished.

The 3rd goal was a touch of class from two of our most maligned passes of the ball, great move, great pass from Doucouré, a lovely take and finish from Idrissa.

MotM for me was Tarkowski, despite his brain fart for the 2nd goal. He was immense yesterday when we were under the cosh, great leadership and defending. I thought he struggled early on in the season and was at fault for at least a couple of goals. However, over the last 8/9 games, he has been magnificent.

Well done to all and a bit a praise for the manager for the turn around in form and mindset. He still frustrates me with his lack and timing of substitutions and the perceived style of play. However, the improvement from the last two managers is vast. Long may it last and onwards and upwards Blues.

Not sure why we weren't on first, the Wolves equalising goal was absolutely sensational though, so was glad I saw that on the tele.

As fans, I am delighted for us that Dyche has restored some obvious pride and dedicated application in being given the honour of representing Everton again.

There are some very potent threats attacking-wise in the Premier League, so it's understandable that he emphasises defensive organisation when we cede possession. I imagine he would like us to make better use of the ball and hold on to it for longer, they are obviously not instructed to pass to the opposition. Without Man City types of ballers though, I think the performances and results are showing he is correct to play the percentages.

Leicester won the league with emphasis on resolute defending and playing on the break, didn't they? UTFT.

Apologies if this has been asked earlier, anyone know the possession stats? I know one poster is utterly obsessed by them and they seem to be all that matter!

Incidentally, our form over the last league games is currently better than the league leaders. Let's give Dyche and the players some credit.

What a win, and what a difference a few weeks can make. Four or five more will be all that's needed, assuming the rumours regarding the outcome of the commission are accurate.

Also, Gana seems to be most effective when used relatively sparingly.

All of Mykolenko's are from open play.

Made up we won again yesterday, haven't seen the game, only MotD highlights.

Dyche has built a team based on mental strength, fitness and commitment. He will need better players if we want flair. but to be honest, I don't care. Give me 3 points and his 30% possession every week and I'll be happy.

UTFT!!

Completely agree about Patterson. No idea why there's been such impatience about him when he obviously has deficiencies as a defender. He needs to keep working and take his chance when it comes, it won't be long, time is on his side.

Our central defenders were not at their best yesterday and yet we came away with 3 points. Some of the players were being given a hard by some contributors are now performing to a higher level. Mykolenko and Doucouré to name but two. Doucouré may not be a midfield general but he can pick a pass in and around the penalty box and has a striker's instinct. It's also a help that Calvert-Lewin is now putting a run of games together and Beto can be introduced late on in games.

Better days indeed for our fantastic away supporters.

Danny, I hope you are recovering from your fall and that later on in the season you see another victory at a London venue, one which helps clinch our first piece of silverware in this century.

The freeze-frame and blow up of the exact moment of contact shows Branthwaite stretching and missing the ball (again!) but catching the man's boot, which caused him to trip and fall — not dive.

This is what really concerns me: If Jarrad is to improve his understanding of football and become the player we want him to be, I hope the Everton coaches are telling him this week that he definitely got away with one there and that such mistimed contact with a striker in the penalty area will very rarely be viewed so favourably. Eze didn't make a meal of the contact, he was very clearly tripped.

But if, instead of recognizing this, he has a chorus of fervid Evertonian voices celebrating the dive call and the yellow card, then he is less likely to learn the real lesson here.

I have always rated Mykolenko and, now he is getting forward and adding goals to his game, he is becoming the complete fullback; again, I have to give credit to Sean Dyche for this.

Apart from Doucouré, I thought our other forwards contributed very little, and I can't remember a game where Calvert-Lewin won so few headers. While it was Harrison's cross for Mykolenko's first goal, I struggle to remember anything else he did of note. Also, I thought McNeil was ineffective and neither really impacted on the game.

Funny isn't it to think Doucouré couldn't get in the side when Lampard was here yet under Dyche he must be the first name on the sheet. I know many including me have been critical of Ashley Young but last week he kept Mitoma pretty quiet and I thought he had another solid game yesterday.

I also have to say what a player Ebreche Eze is, a class above anything on the pitch. Every time he got the ball he did something with it, be that going past people or producing a quality pass for one of his team mates. Why this kid isn't in Southgate's squad beats me.

Glad that Dyche swapped Onana for Gana at half-time; had he stayed on, I think we may have lost that game yesterday. The way Eze turned him on the goal line was embarrassing.

Guess if he joins up with the Belgium squad this week he can tell the journalists if his mindset is still the same as he told the journalists the last time he was away on International duty, that he had to change his mindset when he came here to get used to losing every week.

Calvert-Lewin back and some pretty shrewd signings have made the team in with a chance against most of the others, that became obvious a few weeks ago. Dyche I'm confident will improve them even more before the season ends.

The Bottom 3 at the moment seem extremely likely to be there at the end of the season.

Our only concern now is a large points deduction, but even so, I think there's every reason to believe we will stay up if that is what happens.

Doucoure passed the ball to Gana for the winning goal, surely that's an assist?

Johnathan, Refs do have my sympathy as there are 22 cheats on the pitch bending the rules as much as possible.

The inconsistency of the same trips and fouls outside the box being ignored or waved away compared the the VAR microscope challenges in the box are killing the game.

Each angle and slow motion makes tackles look more aggressive than in real-time speed.

I would much rather just get rid of the VAR, change the offside rule to anything level being onside, and let's all see more goals.

Mykolenko improved a lot under Ashley Cole's coaching. He is a solid left-back.

I get the feeling Patterson needs to know his game and stick to his strengths. He is neither a good defender or attacker at the moment.

I don't like the way we are playing once we go ahead in games. I am all for the catenaccio given our current abilities but we should be trying to keep possession better than just smashing it away.

This international break has come at the wrong time for us. I would have loved to have played Man Utd next week.

It was a penalty alright and Branthwaite needs to learn from his mistakes. He is young and like all young defenders he will make mistakes as he learns his trade.

Thankfully, it did not cost us.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the interpretation had changed in that contact didn't automatically mean a foul and that any contact had to equal the outcome, ie, a brush on the shoulder wouldn't cause someone to collapse to the floor? Thus moving away from the commentator's favourite of "there was contact, they are entitled to go down"!

On a different note, I seem to recall an evening game last season where a defender, maybe Keane or Holgate, eyes on a dropping ball, went to hoof it clear out of the penalty area, opposing player came from the blind side, got booted in the head, this resulted in a pen and a red. Yesterday's kick to Tarkowski didn't even warrant a yellow!

Anyway it seems that progress is being made. UTTs

Bang on a pen.

I think young players benefit a lot from loan spells. It was the making of Branthwaite at PSV and Coleman benefited hugely from his season at Blackpool.

When Coleman is fit, I think he may find himself third in the queue for right-back.

How anyone could award a penalty for a player jumping for a ball and accidentally landing on an opponent's foot is beyond belief, but that is one of the more baffling penalties awarded against us.

I think what some are trying to say in regards to Niasse is Roy blasted him for it and as good as accused Niasse of going down too easy.

The boot was on the other foot yesterday, but a different point of view by Roy claiming his player was unlucky not to get a penalty, cannot have it both ways Roy, if a player goes down too easy.

Disagree - Coleman is still best right back we have and his leadership will see him get the nod, up to him to keep it like that of course.

Patterson had his chance before Young arrived and never took it.

The truth of the matter is, if the incident would result in a free-kick anywhere on the pitch, then it's a penalty, no matter how easily the fouled player went down, or how hard he was hit by the defending player. It's all pretty simple really, but the modern media likes things to be controversial as it gains more clicks etc.

On another note, is the Palace striker who scored the second goal renowned for impersonating Jordan Pickford's voice???

That is the only explanation I can think of for Tarkowski inexplicably ducking out of the header which left the Palace lad with a free-hit on goal. It was such a shame because Tarkowski must have won every other header during the game.

I think Patterson is currently just getting drilled on the basics. I suspect Dyche understands that a player can be ruined before they've got started if they are introduced too soon and the crowd take against them. I reckon maybe towards the end of the season, Patterson will become a permanent fixture.

I've got no problem – when we're in front or even drawing – not attacking the ball, our sweet spot appears to be 38% possession. So don't press the ball, stay in shape, and let them come onto us.

What I've noticed in the Brighton and Palace games is that the second part of the strategy, when you turn possession over, playing on the counter has been missing, and replaced with knocking the ball away and keeping the shape, so it ends up attack vs defence, which is a high-risk game.

Equally frustrating that, when they equalised, we started to play a counter-attacking game; if we would've looked for opportunities when we were 2-1 in front, we might've taked the game away from them earlier.

Typical scenario of player protecting the ball with his back towards another, the other player puts his hands on the back of the protecting player with minimal pressure, certainly not enough to push player to the floor, not a foul.

Yet if the controlling player feels the same level of pressure on his back but throws himself to the floor, free-kick given.

That is what I thought the rules were moving away from, meaningful contact required. I do agree with "just coz it's in the box, it's not given, but anywhere else it is." I guess all we really want is consistency.

Apart from that he had a brilliant game, probably my MotM and a great example for young Branthwaite, who I thought also had a good game, to learn from.

What does make me chuckle is the habit of players deliberately placing the ball a centimetre outside the quadrant when taking a corner. 'Cos that centimetre really counts, don't it!

Whether there was contact or not, it was insufficient to cause him to fall to the floor. There is more contact in a bus queue.

Given the chaos I sense he is having to operate in – ownership issues, no finance, no leadership, the P&S threat – it is a minor miracle he is managing as well as he is.

Getting a goal out of Gana and an attacking performance out of Mykolenko suggests effective optimisation of what we have. He is the best man for the job right now, however much we might despair of the job that needs doing.

My ongoing concern is the midfield. The cupboard is very bare and we lose Gana for the Afcon. At least Doucouré has said he'll stay with us, but a serious injury to Onana or Garner doesn't bear thinking about.

I watched a full replay of the game on Sky and, like others, I struggle to believe Tarkowski of all people would have left that ball, without a shout, and I doubt it came from Pickford, who was rooted to his line.

Is it an offence to impersonate a player? Has it ever been given?

I think we have a chance against Man Utd, we are becoming the sort of team they might not enjoy playing against and I think they have a soft underbelly...

This constant cheating/, trying to con the ref at every opportunity turned my son off football at an early age.

And it seems to be getting worse not better. That said, I thought yesterday's ref – who I don't recall seeing before – did a good job.

3 goals away from home, coming back again and again to take the lead shows a toughness and an attitude that we belive we can score again now. Whereas in the past we didn't believe we could hurt teams.

The sitting back after going ahead annoys me. I know its a tactic, I know it's meant to give us the opportunity to exploit the spaces left behind when the opposition are attacking us, but it backfired against Brighton and could have ended the same at Palace.

Maybe as the season goes on, we get Seamus back, and the players get used to playing that way, we will look more solid sitting back and breaking.

Palace are a good side, strong, attacking wise they cause every side problems, and it's never easy at their ground.

So, credit to Dyche and the players, consistency now is our aim.

I totally agree with the corner quadrant issue, it wouldn't be so bad if it improved the taker's ability to deliver a good ball, but very often it doesn't make any difference.

I certainly wouldn't play cards with most Professional Footballers, they'd likely have about ten aces up their sleeves, all of the same suit, with different patterned backs, all the while claiming that's how everybody plays cards.

If necessary rescind it the next day which is fine but it leaves the team down to ten for the rest of the game. I'm like most fans it's a scourge on the game.

Finish it.

The first pen was without question a pen.

In my opinion, the second incident the referee also nailed the call perfectly. This "contact" by Branthwaite which amounts to a feather's touch does NOT entitle the attacker to go down. The contact in no way warranted, by the laws of physics themselves, the subsequent "wipe out" of Eze. Eze was clearly looking for a call and clearly attempted to deceive the referee into calling a pen. It was not a penalty, and the ref got it spot on by giving a yellow - you know CAUTIONING - the player to not attempt to ham it up and deceive the referee again.

I thought the only call the ref missed was the high boot. That's a foul he missed. But one could argue, with merit I'd say, that this referee looked to let the game flow and not interrupt the game every 10 seconds with his whistle. So if he lets the game play on, on a higher boot incident where there's no injury? Fine.

The 30 year old referee was very good yesterday. Excellent in fact. Voices shouting on the internet he was crap are probably the brain-dead herd who just yell at referees because that's what they think they're supposed to do, or are entitled to do, or some other third way of idiotic, backwards thinking. You can fill in that third blank yourself, my gift to all on TW.

Anyway, stuff them. Just like London buses, no victory in London for about 18 games, then three come along at once! (I might have said that last night, but can't be bothered scrolling back to find out 😁😁).

As I've often said, I can walk out of any stadium and not remember what happened during a game. Only major incidents, like penalties, goals being scored, sending offs can I remember, and I thought we scored three excellent goals yesterday, though I missed the first one due to arriving late, but have since seen it on TV.

Their second goal was a bit strange though, because was there a shout, or something said to make Tarkowski leave the ball? Did he hear a shout from Pickford, who can't have been no more than three or four yards away from Tarkowski, and yet Pickford appears to have a right go at Tarkowski for leaving the ball.

Anyway, enough seems to have been said on here about the game without my tuppence worth, but what I will say is this…….if anyone who's never been to Selhurst Park, but is thinking about it, then don't bother. It's a fucking shithole, and a nightmare of a place to get too. Even the steps on the terracing look like they are full of potholes, a bit like you see on the road. Jeez, there was even one which looked like the shape of someone's head had been engraved in it!!

Eze went down too easy! There was minimal tap on his boot, but he already knew the script and flung himself down. It was all a bit obvious that he was hamming it up.

The ref had a good game I thought showed up a few of them with much more experience. Good luck to him in his career.

No point in crying over spilt milk I suppose. But it is annoying nonetheless.

I know it's an altogether different thing, but Eze was not exactly moving that quick that any contact would cause him to fall over. He was expecting any contact and down he went. Blatant dive!

I could understand if he was running at speed, and any contact would be enough to put you off balance and fall, but this wasn't the case.

"Doucoure passed the ball to Gana for the winning goal, surely that's an assist?"

Rob, you're right. I looked at the chart right before posting that, last evening; guess it wasn't updated, and neither was my memory! Thanks.

There was contact. If you can't see it clear as day on the MotD freeze-frame, with Gary putting a nice big circle round it just in case you're distractedly admiring Jarrad's nobbly knees, then no-one can help you there.

Branthwaite's foot catches Eze's trailing right boot as he's moving fast and, as a result, he can't bring it forward quick enough to stay on his feet due to his forward momentum, hence falling flat on his face.

It happened in an instant. Eze doesn't have time to think "Ooo... I felt a tickle on my toe there and I could have kept going forward but I'm in the penalty area and these bastards from Up North are big ugly unsavoury brutes and the ball is now running away from me, so I think I'll just throw myself to the ground as if poleaxed by a snipper."

Yea, right.

For it to be a dive, there has to be no contact.

If the contact is enough to interfere with the player's movement — Branthwaite had stuck his leg way out, missing the ball, but blocking Eze's foot — then it's a foul and should have been a penalty. We are extremely fortunate in this instance that the VAR made yet another mistake (not the first by a long way) and decided to stick with the ref's call.

Otherwise, he would have sent him to the pitch side monitor to check for himself. Eze wasn't moving that quick that any contact would cause him to go to ground.

There's contact literally all the time in the box. Contact doesn't definitively equate to a penalty.

Think of it this way oppositely. If a reckless challenge at 100 mph two-footed is executed, but the player jumps out of the way and there's NO contact, is it still a foul? Yes.

Contact in and of itself is not the barometer of a foul. Yes, it's a MAJOR factor, but not the be-all end-all.

If you can't see that was a dive, then honestly the argument will go in circles ad infinitum.

"Eze was clearly looking for a call and clearly attempted to deceive the referee into calling a penalty."

I was tempted to call that out as 'confirmation bias', Jamie, but that's not even correct because it's just something you 'clearly' invented to fit your preconceived analysis with little or no consideration of the visual evidence available.

Or maybe it's not available to you as I think MotD is blocked on the iPlayer in the US of A, and I'm pretty sure Rebecca on Peacock was too busy lapping up all the birthday congrats to worry about such trifling stuff as the football.

“When Coleman is fit, I think he may find himself third in the queue for right-back.”

I actually meant Patterson would be third in the queue rather than Seamus.

We all see a different game, but some of literal Mike's comments have made me smile

I can't really argue the "confirmation bias" accusation as we both know I'm rooting for Everton to win, so clearly might see proceedings in the most favorable Blue light as possible.

But (ya knew the "But" was coming) -

Referees and any fan trying to make an assessment of a call, have to come to judgements. It is clear as day to me that the contact on Eze was so minimal that there is no conceivable way his bodily reaction and actions could have been caused by Branthwaite's big toe making contact with the front edge of Eze's boot.

Couple that with the fact Eze starts to move forward and then decides to dramatically dive out as if hit in the shin by a metal bar? That's not me inventing anything.

We have no MotD here (you knew this anyhow), but replays are readily available. I've watched it multiple times and it's never, ever a penalty.

Someone with real ref knowledge (Mr Oppenheimer?) needs to chime in.

Does contact instantly justify or equate to a penalty? I don't think that's the barometer as to whether a penalty is called or not, Michael. Until proven wrong on that count, I'll stand my ground on this one.

Like Michael and others have said, there was likely contact, but not enough to warrant Eze going down, and his embellishment/deception warranted the yellow. The key was the referee seeing Eze's legs fly upwards unnaturally. So I agree the ref absolutely got it right.

Regarding a few other comments, I can assure you that while the rules should not be interpreted differently inside or outside the penalty area, they always will be. Referees will almost always want to see more contact in the area than outside it. They'll also allow more contact from the offensive player when scoring (see the Joelinton push, which was just a terrible non-call), especially on headers and bicycle kicks that would otherwise be endangering an opponent.

As for past incidents, the Niasse one was obviously a complete joke, and they picked the wrong player to make an example of. The Keane penalty a few years ago where he steps on an opponent accidentally I'm pretty sure they apologized for, like with the Man City non-handball, even if it was too late.

My final words as a referee are that it's incredibly difficult, because so much decision-making is subjective; there's no conspiracy against teams or corruption, but referees are human and certain managers or players or clubs or calls earlier in the match will get in their heads; and one easy way to know on a big call if the referee got it right is to watch the players' reaction, as they'll almost always tell you — we barely argued on the first pen yesterday and Eze didn't argue much on the yellow.

I honestly don't know how I feel about VAR. It's certainly taking a lot away from the game, but I fear if it disappeared the shouts about shit refs and conspiracies would only grow with each missed call. But we'll save that discussion for another time.

For now let's praise the referees — including the VAR for not intervening yesterday — for once! It's such a difficult job under so much scrutiny, almost none of us would want it, especially given they're hugely underpaid.

We've all played football enough to know you don't have to dive when contact is made. The notion, ‘He has a right to dive', is just nonsense and we know it. I hate it when the ‘pundits' spout such garbage. It's cheating and it doesn't matter if' it's Crystal Palace, Everton or anybody else, I hate it.

For those who can, look at ‘The Big Match Revisited' on ITV X, that show the games from the 1970s, look at the responses to heavy tackles on the muddy pitches. The players hardly fall and stay down as they do today... They get ‘sponged', limp for a few minutes and continue playing.

I've never seen anyone roll over a thousand times in feigned agony as the modern player does. Such antics would be seen as a badge of dishonour and would be ridiculed by even their own teammates.

It's this cheating mentality and trying to con the referee that is slowly putting me off football. It stinks.

Both of his feet were off the ground at the same time, which is not what naturally happens when the leading foot makes contact with something. Eze is a player who dives with great frequency to make up for his lack of a good final touch.

I think Eze is moving a bit faster than you are giving him credit for. And I think the contact from Jarrad's boot is sufficient to halt the natural movement of Eze's right foot coming forward in the next stride, tripping him, and causing him to fall.

The VAR has a burgeoning record for making mistakes and not making the correct calls, even when the video evidence is staring them in the face. So I don't think we can rely on their competence (or incompetence!) too much in this instance.

there was likely contact, but not enough to warrant Eze going down, and his embellishment/deception warranted the yellow.

I'm taking this as the answer to my question:
Does contact instantly justify or equate to a penalty?

The answer seems to be no. Contact in and of itself does NOT justify a foul / penalty.

Correct?

I'm not even bringing VAR into the argument. I don't care in this instance.

Was there contact? Yes. Important to note very minimal contact.

Was the contact sufficient enough to warrant a penalty or explain / justify the physical bodily response of Eze / his reaction to said contact?

No.

Therefore, is it likely Eze was attempting to deceive the ref and win a penalty?

Yes.

Does that deception of a referee warrant a yellow card?

Yes.

Okay, let's forget the VAR then:

Was there contact? Yes. Important to note it was sufficient contact to disrupt the player's forward motion, causing him to fall.

Was the contact sufficient enough to warrant a penalty or explain / justify the physical bodily response of Eze / his reaction to said contact?

Yes.

Are we therefore entitled to believe that Eze was attempting to deceive the ref and win a penalty?

No.

Does our preconceived conviction that he was trying deceive the referee warrant a yellow card?

No.

No.

Alas we see thing differently. Your 219 clearly illustrates this.

It’s all about opinions and like assholes, everyone has one.

It is fascinating how two people can see something and come to completely different conclusions.

Finally, clearly I’m correct and you’re wrong. 😜😂

But what convinced me was freeze-frame coverage from an entirely different angle, shown on MotD, that you Yanks don't get. It clearly shows Branthwaite's boot right in front of Eze's foot.

I'll go back and look again at the premeditated unnatural extra-step swan-dive claim after the West Ham - Forest game is over but it looked like a very natural fall from a trip to me. Just like the first one that was given as a penalty.

At the best video definition I can find, I'm not sure there was any cross or tripping type contact; more like a glancing contact if there was. It simply isn't clear either way.

Eze's right foot didn't seem displaced and he didn't look to be deflected off track. What did happen is that his left foot looked to retract from its natural next step, as he did a sort of "collapse dive", which gave a pretty good expression of what would happen if his right foot had been stalled.

This is in contrast to the Salah Special, with its (laughable) hysteresis pause-and-launch style.

As Jonathan explains, very hard for the ref to judge and decide in real time, and from distance. VAR will have had much clearer footage of any contact. I assume they both took the engineered dive view.

Great Win. ‘We’re all part of Sean’s army………. Wembley’

No. Too much emphasis is placed on ‘contact' instead of ‘sufficient contact'. My Nan wouldn't have collapsed with that so-called tackle. Players have got to stop cheating and feigning injury, it's ruining the game.

If they brought the magic sponge back then hopefully it would stop all the play-acting.

Regarding Everton, I think the upturn is due to Garner in the middle, not wide, and Branthwaite with Tarkowski.

I would earnestly urged them to look beyond these meaningless numbers.

The notion that a surrender of possession is tantamount to surrender of initiative has once been exposed this week.

We had six players in the Palace box When Myko did his impersonation of The Latch. EIGHT if you include the two right on the edge. This In the first minute !!!. Don't just take my word for it. Have a look at the Replay.

While your at it. Take another look at our second. We had six players in the box for that one too. EIGHT if you include Mykolenko on the very edge and Garner who was by the corner flag.

Then There was the third. When Doucoure, who himself was in a really advanced position, Played the killer pass, He had no fewer than four options, all in the Palace box. In the LAST minute !!!. Thankfully he chose to pass to Idrissa.

What we are witnessing isn't some cowardly attempt to eek out a point. Time and again We broke on numbers. Just as we did last week.

Dyche is unlikely to draw comparisons with Pep Guardiola. Even if He had the know how, He doesn't have the players to keep the football for long periods, but he has got players who can stay disciplined and break with purpose.

There's not a cats chance in hell that we would have seen Gana drive into the opposition box in search of a late winner had Koeman, Allardyce, Ancelloti, Beneathus or Lampard still been in charge. He'd have been sitting deep in our half in front of a back 5 or 6.. Just in case

The fact is; Mr Xg may employ tactics which allow the opposition a lot of the ball, but he had us attacking in far greater numbers than any of his predecessor's ever dared.

Long may it continue

Which is getting out of hand lately.

Yesterday's game and the tactics employed were fine, because we won, and because you'd expect any home side to have the Lion's share of possession and most teams, apart from the very best teams, tend to play on the break away from home.

Those of us, and there are a few, who'd prefer to see Everton on the front foot at Goodison in most games, find it difficult to watch a backs-to-the-wall mentality employed in too many games.

If the opponents are forcing our team back, like you'd expect the likes of Man City and the other lot to be able to do, due to their pace and the quality of their footballers, that's fine, we have to accept that, because we aren't blessed with that pace or equal quality of those opponents.

If at home, the side is deliberately conceding possession, as part of an overall tactic, then it may or may not work, it certainly doesn't help the fans to get excited, when they're mostly watching the opponents retain possession for long periods.

It will be interesting to see what happens when Man Utd come to town, will we do the same as we did with Brighton and Arsenal, or will we try and play a bit more football and try and pen United in their half? There isn't a right or wrong way to play football, and if one style is able to get positive results over another, then we have to embrace it.

Eze is a terrific player, with beautiful balance, and anyone who was ever a good enough athlete to have played a high level of football will know that sometimes even the slightest of touches to your feet/lower leg can be enough to disrupt the rhythm of staying on your feet. It's like being tap-tackled in rugby.

Like everyone else I have been pleasantly surprised by the recent form of Mykolenko. He was our best player against Liverpool, and has been getting up the pitch and contributing to our attacking potency too. For the first Palace goal he successfully showed Eze inside, but McNeil is too far behind the play to get involved, while Ayew's run took Onana away, creating a hole that Garner was very slow to close, allowing Eze to get into the box and forcing Branthwaite out to make the challenge. Giving players like Eze the chance to carry the ball into the box at pace is always going to be asking for trouble.

Great win. To be pegged back twice and still find a way to win away from home against a decent Palace side is very encouraging. Dyche is instilling some much-needed resolve into our squad, and finding ways to make us effective with and without the ball. He has us ahead of where I expected us to be at this stage, and with a fair wind - which for me largely depends on keeping DCL fit - I think this season might even be one with more high points than low ones.

It isn't pretty but it damn sure is the most reasonable approach to soak up pressure and then create numerical advantages with coordinated group advances. This was the stuff Carlo was doing when Dunc would be yelling “up up up”. As long as we are limited to direct play this is actually the smartest way to both create chances and take the swagger out of opponents possession.

I met up with Danny O in the Prince George where I also met my (kopite) nephew and his lovely Aussie girlfriend. After a couple (possibly more…) of decent Guinnesses, we got to the ground in decent time and before we knew it we had scored the opener. I didn't think in live time that penalty would be given but, having seen it back, I can see why, although it was very soft!

I said almost perfect day because just after that I went to jettison some Guinness and when I got back to my seat, young Danny lad was missing. The people in the same row told me they'd seen him being taken up the stairs by three stewards and assumed he'd been chucked out!

I went looking for him, asked the stewards if they knew anything and missed our second. Anyhow – I gave up and went back to enjoy the game, this time without the constant “Sheedy would've buried that” and “That cross was almost as good as Sheedy” type comments, but never saw Danny again. It was only on reading his account on here that I found out. Hope your heads okay now, Danny boy?

The other negative of the day was some bloke in row 25 - directly in front of me –needs to see a doctor about his bowels cos he absolutely stunk the place out every 5 minutes. The poor girl next to me was almost sick.

Back to the positives and it was a very unusual feeling to actually still believe we would win it even when they got back to 2-2. There doesn't seem to be that same “Everton, that” air to the team these days.

Also, as I said in the pub later, we'll need to find a song for Sean Dyche if this carries on! UTFT.

I thought the ref yesterday on a whole, has been a lot better than most who hide behind var.

You only have to look at the cup games this season without var, the refs have made their own decisions, and the cup games without var, have been a breath of fresh air, players know the ref and linesman’s decision is final and you rarely get complaints from players, with var they use every trick in the book to try and convince the ref they have made a mistake.

So far without var, the cup games have ticked along nicely, but make the most of the quarter final, because if we reach the semi final, var is back for the semi finals, and the final.

Now obviously that means a lot of subjectivity, but the hope is that with players flailing every which way in the modern game, we'll start erring more on not calling borderline fouls. You're starting to see this more when players are backing into a defender and falling over with any touch on their back, the referee says play on.

I actually think the one positive of so much video scrutiny and the VAR is that there's less deception than a few years ago. I know fans will point to a hundred different counter-examples, including Eze, but I think overall players are doing it less, not wanting to develop a reputation for a flopper. There might be more embellishment to draw a penalty with slo-mo VAR, but less outright deception when they're not touched at all.

The kid is a great talent, but to be a great dribbler in such tight spaces, then I believe that a player has got to keep the ball closer, otherwise they end up overrunning it, which is what I personally think the Crystal Palace player ended up doing.

If Branthwaite would have been our last defender, then I'm convinced that Eze would have stayed on his feet, and when the VAR has to constantly scrutinize these little freeze-frames to see if they are right or wrong, my own belief is that anything that takes over 60 seconds, usually means that it might possibly be more subjective than definitively correct.

Well, I was at the match and he was appalling. He gave absolutely every free kick to Palace, and hardly anything to us right throughout the match.

Aside from the 2nd potential penalty, we got nothing from him, and worse than that there was a good few times that he'd give them a foul as soon as they went down, but when it was us (and I've got to say more blatant) it was play on.

Sorry, but no, he did not have a good game IMO. He was just as bad, inconsistent and infuriating as the rest of the shower of shite referees and officials currently mismanaging most games in this league.

And one final thing: yes, most players these days are cheating barstools, granted. Going down for nothing, always whinging, telling the ref what to do, etc.

But watching us, week-in & week-out, I actually think our players are pretty honest, other players considered. And maybe that goes against us… But I'd rather that than some of the cheating twats we see, week-in & week-out, playing against us.

We had watched a gang of lads leave the bar, some of us nipped into the gents. A few moments later, these lads armed came in with a Stanley knife and proceeded to cut strips of the blue material from the towel dispenser!

When we got into the Grafton and the bar, there they were with their scraggy bits of unravelling blue towel masquerading as ties! Brilliant!

I was at the game too and completely agree. The number of times he waved play on when our players were fouled then immediately blew when a Palace player went down seconds later was beyond belief!

UTFT

We have to start getting some points at home also.

The Blues are showing a lot more spirit and resilience but most of all are starting to believe they don't belong in the lower reaches.

Whilst the commitment is there they still need to get the tackling right particularly in their own half.

The referee was rather poor in this game but Everton didn't fare too badly by him.

Like Sean a lot...but HK1 he ain't not even sure he's HK2!

Ref didn't stand out to me as particularly inconsistent in his decision-making overall. On the two penalty decisions, I think it ended up pretty much even. On both, the challenges were curtailed by Branthwaite but there still was probably some level of contact. Is the attacker entitled to not having to struggle to stay on his feet? It's not the same as diving but it's not trying to stay on your feet either.

Personally, I think players shouldn't get free kicks or penalties if they don't try to stay on their feet but that doesn't appear to be the prevalent view. Either could have been given but neither was fully deserved. I can live with that.

It was a lively, well-contested game between two closely matched teams. Surprised Woy didn't put Eze on their left early on to test Ashley Young's judgement. We won this one, another day it could have been a narrow loss and we couldn't really complain.

9th I tell yer!

Al Jolson:

"You made me love you.
I didn't wanna do it,
I didn't wanna do it."

Penalty, definitely.

Palace's second goal, very poor header from Branthwaite: no pressure on him 7 yards from goal, he mistimes his leap, doesn't head the ball back where it came from and out of play, but weakly heads it where you don't, centre of the area like a beach ball right to a Palace player. Result: goal.

Branthwaite's next attempt at a tackle in the box, again, don't go to ground. It was more of a penalty than his first attempt. Wonder boy? Not yet he ain't.

I'll be very surprised if he's not been sent off at least once by the end of the season the way he goes about his business.

Definitely needs to develop in that area, but he's been very good this season.

Gueye playing a beautiful 1-2 with Doucoure before taking the perfectly weighted return ball in his stride and shooting calmly past the keeper was probably less likely than us struggling to score against Luton with those same two players as our more advanced midfielders.

Swings and roundabouts. If we're getting what we deserve now then we also got what we deserved earlier in the season. Despite every protestation to the contrary.

One night I plucked up the courage to ask a lovely young lady for a dance and she replied “Fuck off, I don't dance with woolly backs”!

Charming lass! True story that – still burns!

Could she tell by the suit, or did she tell you that after you had spoken to her, Mark!

Rita left me for a scaffolder from Newton-le-Willows who, apparently, "has more lead in his pencil and more go in him than you, Paul."

Nah I'm not having that! Never seen a Scaffolder with a pencil to this day! :-)

Coleman cost £60k and at the time Hibbert was the established right back amd had been for some time.

You don't loan an international £18M full back out to develop. Especially when the other two are 38 (1-year contract) and 35 (with fitness issues). Especially with our finances. Plus he can play further forward if necessary. Be real.

Over to you Mr Dyche

I am not saying he will be loaned out. My point is that it would benefit him to be loaned outside the Premier League to learn his position – he won't be picked regardless of his transfer fee unless he improves his understanding.

He will be third in the pecking order for right back behind Coleman and Young, and he won't even improve his game being stuck on the bench for months.

Let's face it, he definitely doesn't have many problems when he's in possession of the football.

"Paul @252, I think that very poor assessment has come straight out of the coaching manuals mate."

Tony, I always respect your superior knowledge of the beautiful game even when you're wrong. How is my assessment poor? We all have to adhere to basic rules in everything we do, especially sports.

Branthwaite is still very niaeve and not as good as people are making him out to be; just like John Stones, he was made out to be better than he was. The danger of that is that Branthwaite will end up not being forgiven for his mistakes and pilloried for them, then he'll be off using that as an excuse.

Paise where it's due, Tony, but not in Branthwaite's last game and not in your assessment of my assessment either, 😀😀😀

I thought he got taken to the cleaners a few times at Palace, quietly he had a bit of a mare, diving in, going to ground against speed in the penalty area, he was asking for trouble.

Eze's quick feet were faster than Braithwaite's brain. Staying on your feet, don't dive in, block, shepherd away, or get tight... all experience, still to come. His partner at the back should have been in his ear all match helping him. I didn't see that...

Experience is learnt from getting decisions right and wrong, the real trick is learning quickly from it. The Premier League is that good, if you make a wrong choice, it's more likely than not a goal. Time to learn is a luxury few get.

Because of our financial situation, he may get the time and thereby the experience to become a very good centre-back.

I certainly don't think he will get that at a Championship or lower Bundesliga outfit, which are the realistic options. And I personally think he is better than that anyway.

I think he will get playing time as the season goes on, but let's see.

Excellent appraisal of Jarrad Branthwaite, I totally agree. I've said before, we haven't got the luxury of bedding in players, as in Patterson or Dobbin, that's why I don't get the signing of Chermiti. We need experienced players to take us away from being a relegation candidate to being at least a mid-table safe side.

The three question are, and of course it's not for now as we need to keep on doing it for the rest of the season:

1. Are we happy being a 30% possession team feasting on scraps?

2. Will Dyche get the funds to upgrade the squad?

3. Is he the right man to play another way?

My view:

1. Is clearly no.

2. I suspect not in the short term.

3. Without 2 it doesn't matter; if 2 happens, I think not.

Young was getting slaughtered after the derby for being too old. I'm comforted we are adopting a policy of bringing young players with an eye to the future and giving them opportunities.

Better than chancers like James, who despite his ability, turned out when he felt like it and was accommodated by Ancelotti.

Like I said to Steve Brown. Don't understand this attitude that young players need to move out on loan if they are not tearing it up every week.

I get it if they are nowhere near the first team. Chermiti, Dobbin et al are in the squad and they will learn more about how we play under Dyche around the first team than jobbing about in the lower leagues.

That's why Holgate was moved on. He was never going to play and he is experienced.

After the woes of the last two seasons, I will settle for 30% possession on the proviso that we maintain the tenacity I have seen on show since the Luton debacle. It is getting us points on the board.

This team has found some fight under Dyche and his staff and that is a big thing for me. We can build on that.

Green shoots?

I don't think I've got any superior knowledge, Paul, and as you quite rightly say, I'm wrong just as much as I'm right, especially because I didn't think it was a penalty, but the most important man on the pitch and the VAR both saw it differently.

I always tell any kid who is playing football to get involved and don't be scared about making a mistake because my own view is that we always learn more from the mistakes we make, and Branthwaite definitely looks like he's learning.

He's got a long way to go but he's definitely helping Everton become a lot more organized and also defensively stronger so long may it continue. I'd always sooner see any player making a mistake because he's not hiding but showing instead that he wants to do better. That's the real name of the game imo, Paul!

1. Can the current squad develop into a more effective counter-attacking side?

2. Can the current squad improve our passing / movement so we're not so reliant on the counter-attack?

3. Over the course of the season might the likes of Beto, Danjuma, Harrison and Patterson show the same sort of contribution / improvement as Mykolenko in recent weeks?

To these questions, I'd say Yes.

Unfortunately, it won't have us competing for the Champions League spots but it is still very very early days.

The final question is this: is anyone going to cough up the £300M to catch up with Villa, or the £500M to catch up with Spurs?

Unfortunately the answer is no. Which also puts things in perspective a bit.

Looked like he meant it to me. I'll admit, it does look a weird pass, almost a square pass, and a little bit high, but I definitely think Gueye meant it.

I think he was trying to loop it back into the box after the corner and he hooked it left.

If he meant that, with the margin of error and the prospect of being counter-attacked given our defenders were up for the corner, then he's up there with the best in the world! Or he's a lunatic.

Scaffolders definitely had pencils. I remember my mate was a scaffolder and his nick name was pencil dick. so he must have carried one, wonder why he never married. 😀

Love all your comments, even though I don't agree with the majority of them.

As the great Vic Reeves said, "Only jokin, or am I?" 😀

Graham @270, if we want our Everton back to where we want them, competing and challenging, then Dyche is probably not the long-term solution. But right now, he has stabilised us. Just about every game is a close affair. Usually just the one goal in it.

It's not pretty, but at times we do actually play some decent stuff.

Not you Graham, but on the comments about Branthwaite, let's not forget he's only 21. Repetitive from me, but that's very young for a centre back. He'll make mistakes, but all players do. Anyone who has graced the field of football will have done.

Give him time. Every time I watch him, he looks like he will develop into a great player. Just be patient with him.

Seriously though I understand what you’re trying to say about Brainthwaith, but my own view is that I also think Nathan Patterson, should be getting allowed to learn a lot more on the job, because he’s now at an age where he needs to be playing regular first team football, imo mate.

The song definitely belongs to a bygone age, (although in another 50 years maybe people will see it differently when they look through the archives and read about the fantastic supporters whose great spirit kept Everton in the top league twice) but hopefully Everton are finally beginning to get back some of that SPIRIT OF THE BLUES?

You'd have loved it at the end Tony with Spirit ringing around Selhurst Park very loud and the players standing there taking it all in.

I also thought he meant it after watching it a few times, the first thing most fans would say is "It's Gana, it must be a fluke" but looking at the pass, he hits the ball with the inside of his boot and his body shape and the way his eyes follow the ball indicates, to me, that he meant that pass.

Most fans didn't think he could execute that goal either but there it was in the back of the net!

I remember an excellent goal he scored against Cardiff in the Premier League away in a 3-0 win, or was it Swansea?

It didn't occur to me at the time that pass was miss-hit. I was thinking about the goal last night in bed (sad I know), that it was an outstanding goal. Great pass from Doucoure at some pace too to be incisive, Gana's touch then was sublime guiding it into the danger zone space (Dyche's already applauded this) and then the finish was clinical.

It all come together in a moment of perfection. Worthy of winning any game and definitely should be on the Goals of the Month list. Can they repeat it? Now that's another question altogether!

And besides the Niasse fiasco, if anyone thinks we Toffees are just moaners, then why is it okay for ex-players to make comments about cheating being acceptable, yet Moyes had to compile a video of all the times Andy Johnso was fouled, and yet never given a penalty and all those know-it-alls were calling him a cheat?

Double standards in this bent Premier League.