- Eagles took lead through McArthur, Zaha
- Baines, Niasse equalized
- Palace remain bottom of PL table
Crystal Palace and Everton played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
The Eagles twice took the lead in a wild first half with James McArthur giving Palace the lead less than a minute in but Leighton Baines soon equalized from the penalty spot. Wilfried Zaha made it 2-1 but Oumar Niasse equalized right on half time and it finished 2-2 after a tense second half.
With the point Palace stay bottom of the table on five points, while Everton are in 16th place on 12 points.
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A rapid start to the game saw Palace take the lead with just 51 seconds on the clock.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek‘s shot was saved by Jordan Pickford but McArthur was on hand to tap home and give the Eagles an early lead.
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Soon after Everton were level as Oumar Niasse went down under Scott Dann‘s challenge in the box and Baines smashed home the spot kick. 1-1 with less than seven minutes in.
10 minutes before half time Palace retook the lead as Joel Ward’s cross found Zaha and his flick beat Pickford to make it 2-1. Just when it looked like Palace would lead at half time, Everton leveled.
Julian Speroni then gave the ball to Scott Dann who had a howler as he lost the ball to Idrissa Gana Gueye who played it to Gylfi Sigurdsson who put it on a plate for Niasse to make it 2-2. The Senegalese forward came so close to joining Palace on Transfer Deadline Day back in the summer and came back to haunt them.
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A tense second half saw plenty of players booked in the rain in south London as Palace pushed hard for the winner with Loftus-Cheek going close but Everton’s defense held firm.
Half time sub Dominic Calvert-Lewin forced Speroni into a decent reaction save as both teams had a decent chance to grab a crucial three points.
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Late on Christian Benteke, on his long-awaited return from injury, also went close for Palace but the game ended even at Selhurst.
