Everton continued their scintillating league revival without much argument over a lacklustre Crystal Palace side.
Not for the first time in the last few game-weeks, Palace looked bereft of ideas and tired whilst Everton subsequently picked them apart. Lucas Digne began proceedings in the third minute with a low knuckleball free-kick from 30 yards out that swished and swayed in the air, forcing Vincente Guaita in Palace’s goal to knuckle the ball away. That was the first of eight shots on target for the Toffees, but only two more came in the first half. At the opposite end, Palace couldn’t land a shot on target for the opening 45 minutes – for the 11th occasion this season.
Interestingly enough, despite Everton’s clear stranglehold on the game, Palace enjoyed more possession with 53.4% of the ball. Palace did get an early opportunity through Patrick van Aanholt who struck the post after his effort from just beyond the vertex of the six-yard box was deflected. Worryingly, van Aanholt had the second-most shots at goal for Palace throughout the 90 minutes.
After a quiet start, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison were able to get more involved in the build-up play and the final third for Everton. After much of the match was played in midfield, it finally opened up and Everton struck first in the 17th minute of play. Zaha had collected the ball in his own defensive third (another incredibly worrying factor for Roy Hodgson) and was immediately triple-teamed and dispossessed. A few quick passes later and Theo Walcott was clear on the wing, crossing the ball and pinpointing it on to the foot of Bernard who volleyed smartly beyond Guaita.
The first goal was a story compiled of a reincarnated Everton side and a defensively abysmal Palace side. Then the moment came for Palace: Christian Benteke won a header in midfield which found its way to Zaha. Continuing his run, Benteke latched on to a line-breaking pass from Zaha and lodged the ball underneath Jordan Pickford in the Everton goal.
Only six minutes later the Belgian striker struck the post and even further down the stretch in the second-half he had a point-blank header nullified by Pickford. It could have been a career day for Benteke.
Where are his doubters now?
The main criticism of Ancelotti before he took the mantle at Goodison Park for his first game back in late December was that in all his roles over the previous decade he seemed to inherit an already made team of stars.
He took over from a Chelsea-bound Maurizio Sarri at Napoli in 2018 and became the new face of double domestic Champions Bayern Munich in 2016. In 2013 he began what would be his longest coaching tenure of the 2010s (by a mere three days more than his time at Chelsea) when he took charge of one of the best ever squads of players featuring the likes of Iker Casillas, a prime Mesut Özil and of course Cristiano Ronaldo. Before that, it was French-walkovers Paris Saint-Germain and in 2009 Chelsea came calling on the back of sacking FA Cup-winning manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Of course, all that talk is rubbish. Ancelotti is a world-class manager who earnt these esteemed roles through his own prestige and reputation. Now at Everton, he is once again winning. The Toffees have lost just once in the Premier League since December 22nd, Ancelotti’s first day. He has reinvigorated their style of play, reformed players and helped them find a previously lost identity.
Undoubtedly, this was a task largely varying in stature and differing in obstacles to the giants of Europe at which Ancelotti once called home, but it is a task he is, once again, succeeding at.
Guess who’s back?
Although we must err on the side of caution, fans who enjoy a good revival story may look forward to what the future weeks hold for Christian Benteke. 10 months since his last and 22 months since his second last Premier League goal, Benteke – with a bit of fortune – found the back of the net in the league once more.
Palace have held strong with their faith in Benteke, often quashing any interest from Chinese and other foreign clubs in order to maintain possession of what is now a costly three-year investment. Three seasons on from when he posted his highest season tally in the league for Palace, Benteke’s £120,000 a week wage have taken their toll on the board’s bank account. Eager to see some return from an oft-injured and confidence-stricken striker, it seems Benteke has finally adapted to Hodgson’s rigid style of play.
Slowly but surely, he has edged himself back into the side and has had his moments. A steady build to form is better than no form at all, however, eventually, there has to be a form of consistency to validate his spot in the starting 11.
We’ve figured you out, Crystal Palace
So, you think you know how to dismantle one of the world’s top 30 richest clubs? Easily: just triple-team Wilfried Zaha and don’t do anything stupid. It’s the philosophy the majority of the Premier League has undertaken which has inevitably seen Palace’s fortune turn for the worse. Previously a ‘one loss in 10’ kind of team, the Eagles have succumbed to the second-half of the season blues again and are now a demoralizing ‘one win in 10’ kind of team.
The only way to avoid Zaha being closed down by three separate players from three separate angles is to isolate him in the far reaches of the pitch. Unfortunately, to do that, the team has to be in control of possession, confident on the ball, assured in their passing and offensively organised to avoid teams from merging onto on player; coincidentally, Palace have not been a single one of these things recently.
Three defensive midfielders have often been employed in recent times by Hodgson, which has further compounded the fact that Zaha is isolated in the final third and even in the middle third as well. Benteke has come in and managed to deter any centre-halves from converging on to Zaha, but midfielders – unoccupied by the defensive trio in the middle of Palace’s line-up – have no issue of doing just that. How long will Hodgson persist with such a defensively-minded back seven?
A future star once more
Everton’s number nine has almost doubled his best tally of goals in the league in 120 fewer minutes as he needs just one more goal to reach 12 – twice the count of last season’s six. He’s averaging more shots (2.3) and is being dispossessed (0.6) less than his previous best in both categories (1.5 shots per game in 2018/19 and was dispossessed 1.2 times per game in the same season).
Even more to his reincarnation, the Englishman has averaged the most shots inside the box, big chances, shots on target and expected goals (xG) of any player in the Premier League since Ancelotti’s appointment.
Who is this man? Well, it’s quite obvious: it’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
With an ‘easier’ stretch of fixtures now behind Everton where they had to face only one side in the top nine (reigning champions, Manchester City – their only loss in the Ancelotti era), they will be sincerely tested in the coming weeks.
Games against six of the top 10 over the next seven fixtures means matches involving the league’s best and most expensive defenders for Calvert-Lewin. However, to a player in his form with a manager of Ancelotti’s quality, the task will be significantly simpler than it seems on paper.
Up Next
Ancelotti’s honeymoon period is over and business continues in game-week 27 with a match against 4-0 winners in game-week 26, Arsenal, who turned in a second-half performance to scare any side at the Emirates. While a home fixture against fellow top 10-aspires, Newcastle, awaits Crystal Palace upon their return to Selhurst Park.
