DavidMoyeswas overjoyed to see his side beat **Crystal Palace**2-1 at the death at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Not for the first time, Everton benefitted from the magical work of a maverick whom the manager has been asking to “get goals and assists” in the final third for the Toffees.
We got a little bit of good fortune’
This triumph was a pleasant surprise for Moyes after the first hour of action on Merseyside. Daniel Munoz made good on the dominance of the Eagles in the 37th minute, and the chances kept coming.
“I thought Crystal Palace should have been out of sight. It should (have) been 3-0 up. But we stuck at it.”
With fifteen minutes left on the clock, Maxence Lacroix lunged into a late tackle in the box, and Iliman Ndiaye netted from twelve yards, setting up a grandstand finish with an injury-time winner.
“We kept defending, and eventually got a little bit of good fortune.”
The winning goal came through a little luck: Munoz tried to hack the ball away, and it cannoned off the foot of Jack Grealish into the back of the net. The talismanic attacker has been a revelation for the Toffees and was rewarded for taking on the advice of Moyes about one weaker aspect of his game.
“Jack has done great. Again, he had a couple of shots in target, pretty comfortable for the goalkeeper to save, but I have been sort of pushing them. I want him to get goals as well as assists as well.”
He was part of the malaise before the break, but the Scotsman suggested it was nothing to do with the knocks and niggles that have forced him to carefully manage the player’s preparation for the weekend.
“Jack's had a couple of minor injuries which we maybe over the last two games we've had nurse a wee bit. He has had to miss the odd days training with it. But I don't think his performance is in question. He's doing a lot of good things. The team didn't play particularly well in the first half.”
In these moments, it is a case of being in the right place at the right time to get the right swings. The manager made it clear that there should not have been an opening for the loanee to even latch onto.
*“The **Iliman Ndiaye*cross was in such a small space was an incredible cross stood up. Beto should have buried it. The keeper makes a good save but Jack's around to block it and we get that goal.”
After two draws in September at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, the team are back to winning ways at their new ground, rewarding the resilience that Moyes imagined would create drama in other matches.
“We playedAston Villa here, and I was thinking the way we're playing, we'll get a goal. We played West Ham the other night. I was thinking this will be the night we get a late goal and we hadn't done it. Even Leeds United when we were 1-0 down, I thought they were going to get a late goal.”