The 150th Premier League game of the year ended in a stalemate, with Crystal Palace holding Everton at Goodison, 1-1. The result inched both teams up the table slightly, with Palace insixth and Everton now in ninth place. But only a point separates these two sides, and while gaps are beginning to open, this is a tight Premier League race heading into a busy holiday fixture list.
This was a slow burner of a match that was more compelling than the scoreboard suggested, the game's pleasures coming in individual displays of elegance in the midst of a frantic and physical match that featured a number of near-misses.
"I'm proud, but as a footballer I'm a team player and I want to win games," Lukaku told Sky Sports after draw. "I'm happy but I'm also disappointed that we didn't get the three points. As a striker you always have to be focused, you always know that if you have great quality players that you have to be there at the right time and luckily I was there."
The first half was remarkable only for the fact that Everton couldn't get a shot off on frame. Yannick Bolasie and Connor Wickham combined for the best chance of the half, a fine bit of skill out wide on the left that set up a teasing ball that Wickham bravely dove on to head home -- only to be denied by American Tim Howard on the line.
Romelu Lukuaku was a muted force early, only popping up once in the opening period with a shot that dinked off the far post after running a cute one-two with Ross Barkley that benefited from a fortuitous deflection. That was the closest Everton came though, and even though the delightful John Stones looked dangerous everytime he got on the ball, the best pass he made, aimed for Ramiro Funes Mori, went around Wayne Hennessey's posts instead of between them.
The second half saw Everton taking more of the game to Crystal Palace, and Wickham had perhaps the best chance of the opening few minutes, albeit at the wrong end. A free kick flighted in by Barkley was headed back by the forward only to graze the underside of his own crossbar, and run along like a bird on a wire, down the post and away.
Tom Cleverely then fired a fine volley from range that required a finger-tip save at the stretch from Hennessey that drew gasps from the Gladys Street end, but as time ticked down, Everton looked to be running themselves down blind alleys. Gerard Deulofeu was guilty of this in the extreme, getting into some fine areas but declining to shoot.
While Palace were pushed back, they were hardly down and out, and the key play came with three quarters of the game gone. Yohan Cabaye stormed into the Everton box and was chopped down by Stones with referee Craig Pawson looking. The ball also seemed to roll off Gareth Barry's arm, but before Pawson could award the penalty, Jason Puncheon volleyed a rocket that Howard parried away well.
With Alan Pardew protesting the no-call, Puncheon whipped in a corner that Everton simply watched. Howard failed to come off his line to collect, and Dann was able to outjump what passed for a man-marker to head home. Howard looked very flat on the goal, and it is hard not to take not of the fact that while he remains acrobatic, he is nowhere near as solid on the routine plays.
Lukaku drew Everton level minutes later, first hitting the crossbar, and then finally bundling a low cross from Deulofeu over the line from close range. There was a whiff of offside on the play from Barry, but the goal was no less than Everton deserved on the night.
Crystal Palace had a shout for a penalty denied late when Funes Mori appeared to hack down Jordon Mutch inside the box, but Pawson refused to the award a penalty. Alan Pardew felt a few decisions, including the Barry incident, went against his side but was pleased with a point.
He said: "I think it was a fair result. We showed all the quality that we have as a team, and Everton are in top form. We still almost won and, but for a couple of refereeing decisions which, in my opinion he got wrong, we could have won it. Sometimes you can win when you perhaps don't deserve to and that could have happened if those decisions went our way.
"I think it was obvious from where I was standing that (Jedinak's) shirt was being pulled, but the referee and linesman didn't see it, which I was surprised at."
Information from The Press Association was used in this report.
