David Moyes hailed Jack Grealish for getting into the right place to score Everton's late winner against Crystal Palace
David Moyes has been encouraging Jack Grealish to shoot
David Moyes has been encouraging Jack Grealish to shoot(Image: Offside via Getty Images)
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David Moyes hailed the perseverance of Jack Grealish and his Everton side following their dramatic 2-1 comeback victory over Crystal Palace but admits he is currently in the dark over the fitness of Michael Keane who was forced out of the action in the second half through injury.
The Blues fell behind to Daniel Munoz’s 37th minute strike but after labouring for over an hour, they turned the game on its head through Iliman Ndiaye’s 76th minute penalty and then Grealish’s 93rd minute winner which was his first goal for the club since joining on a season-long loan from Manchester City.
Moyes said: “Jack did great again. He had a couple of shots on target which were pretty comfortable for the goalkeeper to save but I have been pushing him. I want him to get goals as well as assists. He was Johnny on the spot, that’s the key to it isn’t it?
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“I think the bit you have to take from this is Iliman Ndiaye’s cross in such a small space was incredible. He stood it up and really Beto should have buried it and the keeper makes a good save if you want to put it that way, but Jack is in and around to block it and we get that goal.
“But I’ve been expecting it. We played Aston Villa here and I was thinking: ‘We’re going to score a late goal the way we’re playing;’ we played West Ham the other night and I thought we might get one but we hadn’t done it and even Leeds United (away) when we were one-nil down, I thought we were going to get a late goal.
“In those early games I never felt it was coming but today I thought Crystal Palace should have been out of sight and three-nil up. But we stuck at it, we kept defending and eventually we got a little bit of good fortune.”
The 62-year-old admitted that his side were not at their best for long periods but was delighted with how their supporters roared them back into the contest against an Eagles side who were unbeaten in 19 matches and had triumphed 2-0 in the UEFA Europa Conference League away to Dynamo Kyiv last time out. Moyes said: “We need the crowd behind us. As any football club will tell you, you need them behind you when you’re not doing so well.
“We didn’t play well in the first half, but I’ve got to put something right here, Crystal Palace played really, really well and I didn’t expect them to play as well as they did. I thought after Thursday night, normally in the games when you come back there is a bit of a hangover at the start, but I thought they played really, really well.
“We didn’t play well – I’m not changing that – but I think it would be wrong not to praise Crystal Palace for how well they had played in the first half.”
Everton lost Keane – who has arguably been their most consistent defensive performer so far this season through injury on 65 minutes, but Moyes insisted it was early days in terms of the extent of the problem. He said: “He’s got something in between his ribs. I don’t really know the outcome as I’ve not spoken to them yet to see what they say.”