Palace feel the Dyche Effect as Everton refuse to be denied

Crystal Palace 2 - 3 Everton

Like a number of clubs, Crystal Palace have been woven into the tapestry of Everton’s struggles for survival over the past couple of seasons. In 2021-22, under Rafael Benitez and then Frank Lampard, Selhurst Park was the scene of two particularly ugly defeats and the Eagles were, of course, the opponents at Goodison Park when the Toffees came back from 2-0 down to win one of the most dramatic matches in the club’s history the May before last.

The 3-0 win that Lampard oversaw in October 2022 was the high watermark of the Londoner’s tenure; a deceptively fluid and complete performance that would end up being his last victory as Everton boss.

But it was that harrowing 4-0 defeat in the last eight of the FA Cup in March last year that, when compared to what unfolded in South London today, helps illustrate how far the club has come under Sean Dyche.

The team still may have deficiencies in terms of their use and care of the ball — Everton were abysmal at times in the second half in terms of their ball retention today — and there may have been a feeling they were, perhaps, fortunate to have come away with all three points (given how open they were in midfield at times and how much possession they ceded to Roy Hodgson’s side), but in terms of mentality and unity of purpose, it’s night and day from the day Lampard questioned whether his charges had the “bollocks” for the fight in front of them.

Everton twice lost the lead today but on both occasions, they regrouped, rose to the challenge and got their noses back in front. On the third occasion, they locked it down and secured the points, delivered in wholly unexpected fashion by Idrissa Gueye.

The Senegalese midfielder’s wayward shooting and lack of goalscoring prowess has become something of a running joke among Evertonians but this afternoon he played his part in a rapier-like move in the 86th minute, collecting a perfectly-weighted return pass from Abdoulaye Doucouré before finishing with a motion more evocative of his sliding tackles in his own half than a Premier League marksman.

Doucouré himself had demonstrated again his ability to be in the right place at the right time when he restored early in the first half a lead originally given to the visitors by another unlikely goalscoring hero in the form of Vitalii Mykolenko.

The Ukrainian got the chance to spread one of those endearing, almost child-like smiles across his face with less than a minute on the clock when he popped up in the six-yard box to score his second goal in as many games. Palace may have taken the gloss off his moment almost straight away by wiping out the lead but Mykolenko and his team-mates had the last laugh in the end.

Dyche had made one change to the team that started against Brighton last weekend, recalling Amadou Onana, who had missed out against the Seagulls with a calf problem. The Belgian would only last 45 minutes, though, and made way for the eventual match-winner at the start of the second half.

By then, both teams had got onto the score sheet inside five minutes, with Everton finding the net before 60 seconds had elapsed, making them the club to have scored more goals in the first minute of a match in Premier League history. After Mykolenko’s initial shot had been charged down, Doucouré laid the loose ball wide to Jack Harrison to clip a teasing ball into the six-yard box where the Ukrainian arrived to gleefully head home his second goal in a week.

The response from Hodgson’s side was immediate, however, and when Eberechi Eze, who was a handful throughout, danced his way into the area and drew contact from Jarrad Branthwaite’s out-stretched foot, referee Sam Barrott pointed to the spot.

Eze placed his shot wide of Pickford who had remained central trying to fake the winger out and it was 1-1 with five minutes gone.

Both sides then had spells of pressure as Dwight McNeil deposited a volley into the arms of Sam Johnstone off Ashley Young’s deep cross and Dominic Calvert-Lewin was denied a headed chance by attentive defending by Joel Ward.

Eze thought he had won a second penalty midway through the first half when he skinned Onana along the byline and initially appeared to be caught by Branthwaite’s trailing foot but the Palace man was booked for diving instead and Video Assistant Referee, Andy Madley, saw no clear and obvious error in the decision.

James Garner then narrowly missed with a scuffed shot from 20 yards and, at the other end, Tarkowski’s tackle denied Odsonne Edouard who had raced onto Eze’s clever dummy.

With the final action of the first half, Eze was involved again as he threaded Edouard in once more and Jordan Pickford spilled the striker’s shot before Tarkowski knocked it behind for safety.

The second period was less than four minutes old before Everton struck again. Marc Guehi had put the ball behind for a corner that eventually fell to Mykolenko on the edge of the box. The defender’s volley, reminiscent of his strike against Leicester 18 months ago, was deserving of another goal but when it came back off the base of the post, Doucouré was played onside by Jefferson Lerma and on hand to side-foot the rebound home.

Again the hosts tried to respond straight away and it took a good save from Pickford to beat away Eze’s powerful drive from the angle while a mix-up between Gueye and Mykolenko almost resulted in an own goal.

Branthwaite had recovered from a shaky start and he put in a terrific saving tackle to deny Edouard in the 62nd minute before Lerma spurned a gilt-edged chance to level things up again when he placed his shot wide of goal from 20 yards.

Palace only had to wait another eight minutes, though, and it came from a mix-up between Pickford and Tarkowski. Assuming that his keeper had a ball over the top from Eze covered, the defender allowed it to bounce behind him where Edouard stole in to bang it home from close range.

The Eagles’ tails were up but Everton weren’t to be denied. Gueye collected a pass inside from near the right touchline and fed Doucouré. The Frenchman held his pass until he’d spotted the Senegal international’s run and played him in superbly where Gueye took a touch before sweeping it past Johnstone to make it 3-2. The last time he'd scored for the Toffees, Sam Allardyce was in charge.

Beto, on as a substitute for Calvert-Lewin, could have killed it in stoppage time but smashed a shot across goal from an acute angle and Michael Olise wasted the hosts’ last chance to try and force the ball home from a set-piece when he spooned a free-kick into the stand behind Pickford’s goal.

Everton won only two matches away from home in the entirety of last season; this term, they have already notched three in the League and will probably feel as though they should have won at Sheffield United in September as well. They’ve also now won seven of their last 12 games in all competitions, a sign that the Dyche revolution is very much on track, with confidence in the ranks growing all the time.

And if another marker were needed to prove the effect the former Burnley boss is having, Evertonians need only cast their minds back to almost exactly a year ago when, having twice lost in the worst way at Bournemouth, it felt like a very bleak winter was ahead.

This time, the team and fans as a collective might well be relishing what lies on the other side of the international break and a tricky-looking December beyond. Where before lay trepidation, now there is opportunity. Quite the transformation…

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