Match Report Prior to today, Everton had only managed three goals in their five matches at Goodison Park but they doubled their home goals tally for the season in some style, putting three past Crystal Palace for the second time this year. There were so many pleasing aspects, it’s difficult to know where to start — Dominic Calvert-Lewin fit, firing and back among the goals; Anthony Gordon rediscovering the marauding and tenacious player he was at times in the second half of last season; Seamus Coleman keeping Wilfried Zaha in his back pocket and only allowing him to slip out in stoppage time for a free-kick that came to nothing; and Alex Iwobi absolutely revelling again in his roving midfield role, weighing in with two assists, the second a delicious back-heel to present Dwight McNeil with the Blues’ third goal. It was important because if Frank Lampard had heeded the clamour from many quarters to change either his formation, personnel or both in an effort to kickstart Everton’s season after three straight defeats, Iwobi might have found himself either at right wing-back or out on the wing to accommodate a changed midfield. Instead, the manager kept his faith both in what he feels is his strongest starting XI of those players available and his formation, albeit with a more disciplined version of 4-2-3-1 that kept Amadou Onana in a deeper role, and Iwobi, like the team to a man, responded with a dominant display over a potentially very tricky opponent. Iwobi must have covered every blade of grass of the Goodison pitch and he ran this game with the aid of Onana who had as good a game as he has so far since arriving in the summer before he made way for James Garner with 12 minutes to go. It was no surprise that the Nigerian, having found Calvert-Lewin with a pass inside for the opener and played his part in the second goal, was there in the 84th minute to tee up McNeil for a goal that really was the cherry on top of the sundae for Everton. The successive losses to Manchester United, Tottenham and Newcastle had the potential to send the Blues into a bit of a tailspin. Certainly, after a seven-game unbeaten run had taken them to the brink of the top half at the start of the month, the bottom three was starting to look ominously close again coming into this weekend. Lampard needed a big performance back in front of a highly charged home crowd and he got it with a high-intensity start that yielded a flurry of overhit crosses in the first 10 minutes ahead of opening goal that was all down to Calvert-Lewin’s physicality. The 25-year-old dispossessed Luka Milivojević 10 yards outside the Palace box and when Iwobi threaded the ball back to him, Calvert-Lewin took a neat touch past Marc Guéhi, had the strength to hold the defender off and then drilled a shot across Vicente Guaita that the goalkeeper couldn’t prevent from finding the far corner. Demarai Gray had a volley blocked and Guaita had to tip a dipping Gordon shot over the bar as Everton continued to harry and press Palace’s back line and carry all the attacking threat in the first half. Indeed, apart from a speculative long-range effort from Milivojević and the visitors’ first effort on target in the 28th minute when Joachim Andersen’s tame header offer a corner was easily gathered by Jordan Pickford, Palace were being kept very much at arm’s length. Patrick Vieira’s men came out of the half-time interval the more purposeful of the two sides and when Idrissa Gueye was caught in possession in midfield four minutes into the second half, it took a saving tackle from the industrious Coleman to deny Zaha the chance to try and level the contest from the angle. Two minutes later, Conor Coady had to come across to deny Michael Olise after Vitalii Mykolenko had blocked Odsonne Eduard’s shot and 10 minutes after that Olise whipped a free-kick over the crossbar. Everton re-asserted their dominance not long after the hour mark, though, with a superbly-worked goal that started with a goal kick in their own half, involved some confident passing out from the back and a lovely pass from Iwobi through the lines to Gray whose pass to Onana was worked in turn to Mykolenko arriving in acres of space on the overlap. Guaita got a hand to the Ukrainian’s low shot but could only palm it into the path of Gordon who had the simple task of knocking the ball into the empty net. The referee’s assistant had raised his flag for offside but a check by VAR resulted in what was clearly the correct decision — a second goal for Everton. The match went through a scrappy and bruising phase and Zaha avoided a red card for a heavy elbow to Gordon’s head, sub Jean-Philippe Mateta was booked for a late tackle on Coady and Maupay drew an 84th-minute foul when Andersen clattered though him in midfield. Everton took that free-kick short and McNeil, on for Gray in a 72nd-minute change, took the invitation to drive at the Palace defence, slip a pass into the box for Iwobi who deftly back-heeled it back into the winger’s path and McNeil tucked it home to make it 3-0. It was a lovely goal that underlined how good this side can be when it has its tails up and is in full flow. It hasn’t happened very often this season — all too often, the Blues have been tentative and bereft of attacking invention — but what was the most complete performance under Lampard since the win over Leeds in February can serve as a benchmark for future home matches as Lampard looks to take his side to the next level. Lyndon Lloyd top Matchday Updates Everton secured a fine victory over a fractious and overly aggressive Crystal Palace at Goodison Park.Frank Lampard is under increasing pressure to somehow show that he can get this team scoring goals. But his lineup was surprisingly unchanged from the one that failed to even fire blanks up at Newcastle in midweek. Palace kicked off. Gordon did well to track back and dispossess but Olise fell over to draw a foul with Gray not even touching him. A good ball forward saw Gray work his way inside but the ball did not reach Calvert-Lewin. Good work by Gordon down the right after a great feed from Pickford but his cross was ballooned over. Everton were getting forward but Gray yet again overhit his cross out of play.Everton were getting some decent midfield possession but still playing it back rather than forward. They were pressing Palace who had not yet come forward. Gordon overlapped well but his better low cross into good space this time was spurned.Gray won the ball back after Gordon lost it and he fired straight at Guita. Then the ball came back to Calvert-Lewin and he slotted home well after bullying his way past Gehe.After the restart, Palace mounted their first attack, Mil shooting well over. A lot of good movement and play between Gordon and Calvert-Lewin was spoilt by a really lazy giveaway by Gana on the edge of the Palace area. Another fine move down the right with Gordon and Calvert-Lewin the ball found Gray but he could not strike the bouncing ball properly. Good distribution from Pickford to Iwobi stalled poorly with Gordon not advancing and eventually the ball came back to the keeper. Gueye fed Gordon for a tremendous strike that Guaita just finger-tipped over the bar. Edouard got past Tarkowski a bit too easily but Coleman was across to snuff out Zaha, who later had a snapshot that Pickford saved. Better play from Everton saw a decent cross in from Mykolenko but it was just too low to reach Calvert-Lewin.Zaha won a free-kick off Onana, then a corner but Anderson’s header was easily gathered by Pickford. Eze than fouled Gordon, Gray with the free-kick to the far post, but Milivojevic and Coady tried to head the same ball. It was eventually resolved with an uncontested drop-ball for Palace. Then Mykolenko and Ward collided and some nonsense ensued with another bizarre drop-ball in the centre-circle! Everton were able to attack again, a decent cross in winning a corner off Andersen. Gray’s Corner was too low but he got another chance that dropped to Iwobi but his shot was well wide. Palace tried to build an attack but Zaha was flagged offside very early, and possibly wrongly. Why are some flagged straight away and others not? Ayew then went in on Gray and gave up a free kick but again Gray’s delivery was not accurate. But Everton were pressing well when they didn’t have the ball, seriously disrupting Palace’s attempts to play out. More good play down the left was taken backwards by Gana, Ayew then took out Onana but no card as the 3+ minutes of added time played out on a much better half from Everton in terms of playing the ball forward and putting in crosses. But the number of chances created was still very limited. Gordon kicked off the second half but it started a little scrappy with neither side imposing themselves, Onana getting another knock from Ayew. But Palace escaped the press and Zaha had to be tackled well by Coleman in the area, nothing coming from the Palace corner. But Palace put together a very dangerous attack, Coady doing very well to clear a cross behind, not into his own net. But a good break by Everton saw some strange events, Calvert-Lewin getting wiped out and the ref playing advantage, Iwobi unable to beat 3 men, but very competitive stuff. Andersen was next to go down, feeling Calvert-Lewin’s arm in his face. Gray got to run forward with the ball but chose Calvert-Lewin who had to head to the corner flag and the chance was gone. Palace attacked and there was some committed defending by Everton to keep them out, Zaha getting heated over something.Edouard got to run at the Everton defence and Onana gave them a free-kick that was curled in just over Pickford’s bar. Everton counter-attacked and Gordon finished off Mykolenko’s parried shot, but it was wrongly flagged offside. Some minutes later, the VAR finally decided it was indeed a valid goal. Some meaty charges saw all the handbags coming out and it took a while for the poor ref to calm things down. Zaha started it, leading with an elbow to take out Anthony Gordon, that initiated the mass brawl. But only yellow cards from the lenient referee. The fractious nature of the play continued with lively challenges all over the field as Lampard looked to manage the last phase of the game without yielding anything to the Palace, with Calvert-Lewin coming off under the watchful eye of Gareth Southgate. Mateta was very late on Garner and he got a yellow card. Maupay was thrown down by Andersen. McNeil went on a fine run, played an exquisite one-two backheeled to him by Iwobi, to finish perfectly under Guaita, a very nice goal to round things off!Everton tried to play out the rest of time but Zaha tricked his way to a dangerous free-kick when Garner was adjudged to have fouled him. Eze lashed the free-kick high over the bar, much to the delight of Goodison Park, who had finally witnessed a proper spirited and attacking display from Everton. Everton: Pickford, Coleman, Tarkowski [Y:68’], Coady, Mykolenko, Iwobi, Gana (86’ Doucoure), Onana (79’ Garner), Gray, (73’ McNeil), Gordon (85’ Davies), Calvert-Lewin (79’ Maupay). Subs: Begovic, Keane, Holgate, Rondon.Crystal Palace: Guaita, Ward, Andersen, Guehi [Y:68’], Mitchell, Milivojevic (62’ Schlupp [Y:68’]), Eze, Olise (62’ Mateta [Y:80’]), Ayew, Edouard, Zaha [Y:68’]. Subs: Johnstone, Tomkins, Hughes, Bowie, Balmer, Riedewald, Phillips.Attendance: 38,939 Michael Kenrick top The Human View Obstruction After a 7pm Sunday kick-off and then a couple of away games on the spin, all of which culminated in defeat, it was nice to get back to Goodison Park for a 3pm Saturday kick-off. We don’t know how many, and won’t until as and when the TV Gods decide, but I suppose there can’t be many 3pm Saturday matches left at Goodison Park. There aren’t even many Goodison Park games left.So we'd better enjoy it while we can… and that we did. The pre-match pub was fun. We managed to get on one of the seats usually occupied by one of the locals, and thus a good view of the screen, which made for great viewing when Liverpool succumbed to defeat at Nottingham Forest in the early kick-off match.Into Goodison Park and we were in our seats in the Gwladys Street in time for kick-off. Despite many fans wanting to see changes to the team that lost at St James’s Park midweek, I didn’t see Frank changing it much. It turns out he didn’t at all. I’m glad he’s sticking to his principles, this is going to take time.Gary usually stands to my left though, as he was unable to make it, somebody had bought it from him on the resale platform, but the gentleman's etiquette was very questionable at best.He was pretty tall and stood with feet and shins pressed as far forward against the seat in front of him as was humanly possible. And as pretty much everyone in the Gwladys Street stands throughout, he also managed to lose position, and somehow seemingly oblivious to my presence, was stood directly in front of me, occupying about half of my area.I tried to just put up with it, until I tired of having to swing my head around a human standing directly in front of me that I had to ask him to move. I think the moment when I looked around me and saw that nobody else was having any similar problems was the real “sod this” moment. Anyway, no real harm done, but I’ll be glad to see Gary back for the next game!Everton began well, though so too did Crystal Palace, in what was quite an even start with both teams probing. It was noticeable that Alex Iwobi was instructed to press high up the pitch, almost as a second striker early in the game, and actually throughout the first half at a minimum. Our intensity perhaps surprised the Eagles a little bit and might have knocked them off their stride somewhat.Before Dominic Calvert-Lewin found the net on 11 minutes, we had already completed our first shot in target for a few games when Demarai Gray’s edge-of-the-box drive was comfortably saved by Vicente Guaita.However, just a few minutes later, we were ahead when Alex Iwobi slipped a ball through to Dominic Calvert-Lewin who took a good first touch, showed good strength to palm off Marc Guehi, and drove low past Guiata to put Everton ahead.From the TV replays, it looks to me like Guiata had little chance of saving, though being in line with it behind the goal, I’d say he’ll be disappointed not to have saved it. But let's not dwell on that. Everton were ahead and all suddenly felt rosy in the garden.Everton continued to show good hustle all over the pitch and made life difficult for Crystal Palace. I feel that, the more the midfield three play together, the more we will get that.In their last two matches, Crystal Palace have come from behind to win them both 2-1, so I anticipated a performance uptick from them, and sure enough, they came back stronger in the second half.Though Everton stuck to their plan resiliently, personified largely by a quite outstanding and determined performance from James Tarkowski. He made countless excellent challenges and interceptions and was up for the fight throughout. He also defended his team mates when faced with hostility from Crystal Palace players. He’s a quality centre-back, the best we’ve had since Phil Jagielka.And as we held firm at the back, almost inviting Crystal Palace forward, we were then able to pick them off with a quite majestic second goal.I can’t say I wasn’t a little concerned when, under pressure, Connor Coady played what looked like a risky pass back to Jordan Pickford, but he passed sharply out to Seamus Coleman, who was outstanding all game and played Wilfred Zaha superbly, and Everton were able to bring possession forward from there.I hadn’t realised at the time that this had lead straight to our second goal, it felt like it took longer at the time and it was only when I saw it later on social media that I realised it was the same attack in which Anthony Gordon eventually tapped the ball into the empty net. But it's only when you watch it back do you realise what a fabulous team goal it was, and the only shame is that it wasn’t finished off in style by Vitalii Mykolenko, but that matters not.Of course, our celebrations were halted by a very poor offside call. We had to wait a while to find out that Antony’s goal was valid, though could all celebrate when referee Simon Hooper did the imaginary rectangle motion and signalled for the goal.A freeze frame of the goal was then shown on the big screens which really demonstrated what a terrible offside call it was, as Anthony was well onside. And while this drew some ire from the supporters, I suppose you would say that this is exactly what VAR should be for - to rid the howlers, not to draw squiggly lines on a screen to find someone's dreadlock is offside and the goal is disallowed.Speaking of officials, Simon Hooper made few friends on the day, the most baffling decision being when at one end, Everton had possession but, with Connor Coady and Luka Milivojevic both down with head injuries, Hooper rightly stopped play. At the restart, Crystal Palace were given the drop ball instead of Everton!And then at the other end, a similar thing happened involving Vitalii Mykolenko and Joachim Andersen, though this time Crystal Palace were again allowed to restart. It was all a bit baffling.Though it seemed the Everton players felt more wronged by Simon Hooper when he failed to take any action on Joachim Andersen when he pole-axed Dominic, in what really should have been a caution.I don’t want to lump on the referee, I feel you have to encourage them a bit, particularly newer unknown ones. I would say that otherwise, he did let the game flow relatively well, which helped keep the contest a good one.Though it was still only 2-0 with 30 minutes to play, you felt the game was done and dusted (yes, we should know better) and the crowd went into party mode. “I wonder how long it’ll take for everyone to start singing ‘I’ve never felt more like singing the Blues’?” posed Ste. Not long, was the answer.Frank made a few changes to give James Garner, Neal Maupay and Dwight McNeil game time and give Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Demarai Gray and Amadou Onana a rest. It was fantastic to see them also contribute, with Dwight doing well to get on the scoresheet with a brilliant move which involved an Alex Iwobi back eel to tee up Dwight who slotted home.3-0, and what an excellent performance capped off with a couple of great team goals. We then even had the luxury of giving Tom Davies and Abdoulaye Doucoure some minutes.This helped us see the game out nicely, and a couple of bursts from Crystal Palace substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta were about all they could muster. I was convinced Crystal Palace were to grab what would have been an annoying consolation at the death with a free kick, but Eberechi Eze put it comfortably over the crossbar.We went home delighted. “I’ve never felt more like singing the Blues” won’t play on the tannoy too many more times at Goodison Park. You’ve got to treasure these moments.Player ratingsJordan Pickford: Not much to do but his distribution was top drawer. 7Vitalii Mykolenko: He defended well as ever. Finishing that goal himself would have done him the world of good but an assist will do I suppose. He had a good game. 7James Tarkowski: He’s an exceptional centre-back. It was notable that Gareth Southgate was watching on, and he could certainly do a lot worse than James given the form of Tyrone Mings and Harry Maguire. Especially as he can play alongside Connor Coady. A performance full of leadership. Our signing of the Summer for me. My Man of the Match. 9Conor Coady: Also kept the ship steady. 7Seamus Coleman: Talk about rolling back the years. What a stellar performance by our captain. He handled Wilfred Zaha expertly, and few would have expected that. It's safe to say that Nathan Patterson might not necessarily get straight back in the team, which is quite the compliment to our veteran skipper. Well done Seamus, fantastic. 8Idrissa Gueye: He’s still having one brain-lapse a game, though thankfully it wasn’t a costly one this time. I wish he could nip that in the bud. Otherwise, however, Idrissa was great, and was even able to put his feet up for the last 10 minutes or so. 7Amadou Onana: He still needs time and is getting there, and we have to be prepared to tolerate his lapses. 6Alex Iwobi: Another exceptional effort from Alex Iwobi with two very good assists. It's good to see him back to his best after a couple of quieter performances. 8Demarai Gray: Frustrates at times but he certainly puts a shift in and made a good contribution. 7Anthony Gordon: He played well. Got a lot balls into the box, was fierce in his play and got on the scoresheet of course. And no yellow card! You can’t ask for more than that. 8Dominic Calvert-Lewin: He’s come back strongly and is really demonstrating what we have missed. He scored a well-taken goal and gave Crystal Palace something to think about throughout. Well done Dominic. 8Dwight McNeil (for Demarai Gray): He scored a good goal and showed good use of possession and willingness to win it back. A good substitute's performance. 7Neal Maupay (for Dominic Calvert-Lewin): Got involved. 6James Garner (for Amadou Onana): It was good to get a look at him without him being thrown on to try and help us save a game. He looks like he’ll be handy given time. He’s composed on the ball and uses it sensibly. Nice to see him take one for the team by tracking back and fouling the attacker and taking a yellow card to help preserve the clean sheet. 6Tom Davies (for Idrissa Gueye): Good to see him get on the pitch. He got involved well in the short time. 6Abdoulaye Doucoure (for Anthony Gordon): Also did okay. 6 Paul Traill top Match Preview Everton return home to Goodison Park after two difficult away fixtures to host Crystal Palace as they look to arrest a three-game losing streak. The stakes aren’t as desperate as they were the last time the Eagles were in L4 on that dramatic night back in May when Frank Lampard’s side triumphed against the odds from 2-0 down at the break, but the need for a response from the players in terms of attacking output is urgent nonetheless. That the Blues have failed to register a shot on target in successive games and haven’t scored in almost 4½ hours of football has been the topic of much discussion in the aftermath of Wednesday’s reverse at the hands of Newcastle United and Evertonian eyes will be pealed for the team sheet at 2pm on Saturday and then the shape of the side an hour later to see what — if any — changes the manager might make in terms of personnel or formation. Lampard should be under no illusions that something has to change. His men dominated possession for a decent chunk of the second half at St James’s Park and failed to carve out anything other than a Demarai Gray cross that came too fast for Alex Iwobi to bring under his spell in front of goal. Dominic Calvert-Lewin started for the first time this season but, like Neal Maupay at Tottenham four days previously, he ploughed a mostly lonely furrow up front, with the supply lines from midfield and the flanks almost non-existent. There is a case to be made for one or all of Dwight McNeil, James Garner and Abdoulaye Doucouré to come into the starting XI but much will depend on the manager’s willingness to break up his midfield three, drop the out-of-form Anthony Gordon or mix up his formation to either go with a back five or, perhaps, temporarily push Iwobi out wide. It’s also possible that three games in a week will be too much for Seamus Coleman, in which case Mason Holgate could get a run-out at right-back where he will need to cope with the likes of Wilfried Zaha, but other changes to the back line are unlikely. Palace come into the weekend three points and four places better off than Everton having come from behind to beat struggling Wolves at Selhurst Park on Tuesday evening. That followed a goalless draw at Leicester, another narrow home win over Leeds and defeat to Chelsea. They will be without Nathaniel Clyne, Christopher Richards, James McArthur and goalkeeper Jack Butland and both Will Hughes and Nathan Ferguson are rated as doubtful. Though Conor Gallagher, one of Everton’s chief tormentors in the League and Cup games against the Eagles in South London last season, is no longer in his side, Patrick Vieira still has a talented side boasting exciting young forward players in Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze. Together with Zaha, both players have the potential to hurt Everton but with James Tarkowski and Conor Coady building a solid partnership in a defence that leaks few goals, Lampard will be confident that if he can keep the visitors quiet at one end, he need only inspire the right level of intensity and drive from his charges at the other to ignite his forward line. Kick-off: 3pm, Saturday 22 October 2022Last Time: Everton 3 -2 Crystal Palace Predicted Line-up: Pickford, Coleman, Coady, Tarkowski, Mykolenko, Gueye, Onana, Iwobi, McNeil, Gray, Calvert-Lewin Lyndon Lloyd top * Unfortunately, we cannot control other sites' content policies and therefore cannot guarantee that links to external reports will remain active.