MATCH FACTS
- Date – 30th September 2016
- Venue – Goodison Park
- Attendance – 38,758
- Referee – Jon Moss
- Bookings – Oviedo, Puncheon, Tomkins, Benteke, Townsend, Barry, Gueye, Bolasie, Cleverley
- Goals – Lukaku (35), Benteke (50)
- Star Eagle – Joel Ward (8.2)
TEB VERDICT
An excellent second from the Eagles could well have earned all three points but a very good point all the same. Another goal from Christian Benteke and what a header. Proving his worth to the side after just a handful of games. Plenty of positives to take from the performance.
PLAYER RATINGS (courtesy of Who Scored)
30 Steve Mandanda (5.9) – Not really called into action. Berated the wall for not jumping in an attempt to stop the opening goal.
2 Joel Ward (8.2) – Excellent game up against former Eagle Yannick Bolasie.Terrific cross to grab an assist for the equaliser.
5 James Tomkins (6.7) – Starting to look settled in the back line in the absence of Scott Dann.
27 Damien Delaney (6.8) – The captain made a few questionable decisions but wore his heart on his sleeve as we have come to expect.
34 Martin Kelly (6.3) – The rating does not do his performance justice as he made a couple of superb blocks in the second half.
18 James McArthur (6.4) – Worked tirelessly throughout before being replaced by 7 Yohan Cabaye (6.1) on 79 minutes to provide some fresh legs as the game headed to the final whistle.
16 Joe Ledley (6.0) – No nonsense tireless display from the Welshman who linked up well with McArthur and Puncheon.
42 Jason Puncheon (7.3) – His quick feet created much needed space in tight areas to provide good attacking options. Worked hard backtracking too.
11 Wilfried Zaha (7.6) – Great game from the winger even though he faded a little in and out of the second half but always an option when found.
10 Andros Townsend (6.4) – Mixed game but always available out wide even if he did not get much joy from the home defence. Replaced by 14 Chung-yong Lee (6.0) on 90 minutes who did not any time to make an impact.
17 Christian Benteke (7.7) – Proving more with every game why the club shelled out so much money for him. Superb goal and his all round play fits in perfectly to this team.
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 13 Wayne Hennessey, 19 Zeki Fryers, 4 Mathieu Flamini, 9 Frazier Campbell, 21 Connor Wickham
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAID
“They had a couple of spells early on where you could see their quality. They took the lead but we would not lie down and we did really well in the second half. I was disappointed that the referee gave the free kick. It was harsh. The assistant referee thought Damien was offside for his goal, but I gather he wasn’t. If that is what his call was then we can feel a bit hard done by.” – ALAN PARDEW courtesy of Sky Sports
“It is a good point in the end. We defended set plays and second balls well against a difficult team. The team performance was outstanding, although we would like to create more opportunities. We have had a good start to the season. The position in the table is not everything at the moment and we need to improve, but we are doing a good job.” – RONALD KOEMAN courtesy of Sky Sports.
MATCH STATISTICS
The Who Scored man of the match was Joel Ward (8.2) while the most shots were shared between Romelu Lukaku, Andros Townsend and Christian Benteke (3). Gareth Barry (6) made the most tackles and both Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha had the most dribbles (6).
- Team rating: 6.82 – 6.77
- Total shots: 13 – 10
- Shots on target: 3 – 2
- Possession: 56.1% – 43.9%
- Pass success: 75% – 67%
- Dribbles: 14 – 12
- Aerials won: 23 – 22
- Tackles: 20 – 13
- Corners: 10 – 9
- Dispossessed: 12 -14
POSITION IN THE TABLE
The point moves Palace on to eleven points from seven games played to retain seventh place in the Premier League ahead of the rest of the weekend fixtures.
