Magnificent McNeil transforms the mood at Goodison

At the halfway stage of what will, hopefully, be seen as a turning point for Everton’s season, the Blues had kicked off five home games in all competitions and either the team, Sean Dyche or both had been booed off the field in three of them.

Goodison Park was a pretty discontented place after 45 minutes against Crystal Palace this afternoon, the context of a winless start to the Premier League campaign weighing heavier when compounded by a dreadful first-half performance and the knowledge that Everton hadn’t ever either come from behind to win or registered a win on their own turf when the opposition had scored under this manager.

By full-time, the mood had been transformed by an effective half-time substitution, two fine Dwight McNeil goals and a fairly comfortable defensive stand to see out the game founded on the defensive rock that was the returning Jarrad Branthwaite.

The young centre-half made his first start of the season having finally recovered from hernia surgery and, a slight wobble early doors aside, slotted back into the defence like he’d never been away. There are lingering concerns over the side’s set-piece defending that let Palace take a first-half lead — on the other side of the box from Branthwaite, it should be noted — but there were plenty of positives to take from the day, mentality chief among them.

It’s not churlish to say that Dyche was bailed out to a degree by McNeil, who underlined his imperious ability to score wonder-goals with that wand of a left foot with the equaliser before popping up at the back post to rifle in the winner, because the manager’s decision to persist with Abdoulaye Doucouré in central midfield alongside Orel Mangala looked suspect in the first period.

He deserved credit, however, for hooking the visibly frustrated and ineffective Jesper Lindstrøm with an uncharacteristic change at the mid-way point in favour of Jack Harrison, who had arguably his most effective 45 minutes in a Blue shirt, and then introducing both Idrissa Gueye and James Garner to shore up the midfield later in the second half. He was rewarded with a first League win of the campaign and a platform on which to now build a run of results, hopefully one of those streaks of victories that underpinned last season’s survival.

Dyche blamed a, frankly, abysmal first half on nerves and the uncertainty in the stadium following Everton’s winless start and there is some merit to that as well. But, having again ceded criminal amounts of possession

and managed a third of the number of touches in the opposition box than the Eagles, the issues appeared to be a lot deeper.

Under Oliver Glasner, Palace simply looked far better coached as they played through Everton’s midfield, with Adam Wharton and Eberechi Eze in particular finding time and space to dictate the game. And when Doucouré bundled the latter over unnecessarily to concede an eighth-minute free-kick and the former’s shot was deflected wide for a corner, the visitors took a 10th-minute lead.

The initial set-piece was cleared but only as far as Wharton, who scooped a cross to the far post where Maxence Lacroix out-jumped Doucouré and Guehi reacted fastest to the loose ball poke it over the line.

Everton remained unconvincing as they tried to respond. Iliman Ndiaye was electric once again with the ball at his feet but, all too often, it felt like he was going it alone down the left flank and it was hard to see where an Everton goal was going to come from, although did have a couple of half-chances before the interval.

James Tarkowski’s header after a quarter of an hour might have caused Dean Henderson a scare had it not struck Guehi on its way to goal, McNeil drove a really tempting ball to near post but the freshly-shorn Dominic Calvert-Lewin either let it go hoping there was a blue shirt behind him or just failed to make contact, before McNeil himself tried to meet Vitalii Mykolenko’s whipped delivery from the right but his header lacked any kind of conviction and the ball dropped harmlessly wide.

In between, the Blues had almost given up a carbon copy of Palace’s opening goal when Jefferson Lerma popped up to easily win a header at the back post and Lacroix pounded but this time Ndiaye was on hand to smuggle the ball behind for a corner.

From the resulting set-piece, Eddie Nketiah’s curling effort was blocked superbly by a Tarkowski header but Jordan Pickford was fortunate that, as the looping ball spun goal-wards inside the six-yard box, it hit him rather than bouncing into the net.

And there was a couple of late chances for Drasner’s men to deepen the gloom inside Goodison late in the half when Lacroix arrived unmarked on the right side of the area from Palace’s perspective but failed to meet Eze’s cross while Wharton tested Pickford with a crisp volley.

Lindstrøm had thrown his arms in the air in despair late in the first period after the ball one more time and it was an obvious change to make to hook him, with Harrison coming on in his place for the second half.

Apparently with Seamus Coleman’s inspired words still ringing in their ears, Everton were markedly better after the break — more effective in the press, tighter in midfield, and more pro-active, the latter trait epitomised by Ashley Young who had another effective game.

The veteran read Daichi Kamada’s intended pass for Eze brilliantly, stepping up to intercept it, use Harrison as a decoy and then slip the ball inside to McNeil. He looked up in space and then feathered a beautiful curling shot over Henderson and into the top corner from 25 yards out.

Harrison, meanwhile, was directly involved as Everton seized the lead a few minutes later, bringing the ball down immaculately with his left foot, turning away from his man and then whipping a dangerous right-footed cross to the back stick. Nketiah appeared to get a touch with an out-stretched leg but McNeil tracked it all the way, swivelling onto it and burying a volley inside the upright from close range.

From then on it was a case of Dyche’s men holding their nerve and seeing it out if they couldn’t add to their lead. They made it harder than it needed to be at times by being careless in possession, but the character of the contest had irrevocably changed and Palace’s key men in midfield were dealt with far more effectively.

A Munoz header dropped behind the always-dangerous Jean-Philippe Mateta in front of goal and was cleared while Branthwaite blocked a pile-driver from Eze and, instead, it was the hosts who came close to wrapping it up when Calvert-Lewin sent Doucouré away but, looking as though he was running through cement, he allowed Lacroix to catch him up and toe it off him before he could try and beat Henderson.

The finale was predictably nervy given what had happened against Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Southampton in recent weeks and the whistle when it came was met with huge relief inside Goodison.

Four points from the last two games has lifted the Blues out of the bottom three and, together with the takeover news from last Monday, helped improve the mood massively. It’s one win; no one should be getting carried away but as the injury, illness and fitness situation continues to improve, the ingredients are there for Dyche’s men to pick up the points they need to pull away from the danger zone in the coming weeks.

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