da bet sport： Crystal Palace stood in the way of Everton’s chances of going second in the Premier League table on Friday night as they earned a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park.
da wazamba： Alan Pardew’s side have enjoyed a promising start to the season and currently find themselves sitting in 7th, two points off the top four.
Everton have also had a good start to the season and could have risen to second in the table had they been able to brush aside a resolute Palace outfit.
Romelu Lukaku put the hosts in front with a direct free-kick- his first in the Premier League – before Christian Benteke equalised for the visitors shortly after the restart.
So it was a take of two Belgian strikers up front, and a draw was probably a fair result in the end.
Here are six images that perfectly captured the events that unfolded at Goodison Park on Friday night…
Off the mark…
Romelu Lukaku scored his 65th Premier League goal, but his first from a direct free-kick.
The Belgium international curled the ball neatly around the wall to give Palace stopper Steve Mandanda no chance.
The goal looked to have set Everton on their way to yet another victory in front of the Goodison Park crownd.
Togetherness
Ronald Koeman’s arrival as manager in the summer has clearly given Everton a new lease of life.
They’ve been hugely impressive already this term, far from the side we saw under Roberto Martinez, and the above picture is evidence that the players are enjoying playing under the Dutchman.
Romelu Lukaku made a point of celebrating his goal with Koeman, and the rest of the Everton players were all too happy to join them.
Acrobatics…
Yannick Bolasie faced Crystal Palace for the first time since his £30m move to Everton in the summer.
It was clear he was trying to make a point against his former employers, particularly as he has hardly lived up to his price-tag for his new ones thus far.
Above you can see that he tried an audacious over-head kick to try and force the issue that Palace probably shouldn’t have let him go – but he missed.
Bentekers…
Christian Benteke was the hero for Crystal Palace last weekend when he nabbed a last-gasp winner against Sunderland.
And he repeated those heroics on Friday night by heading in the equaliser on the 50 minute mark, cancelling out his fellow compatriot’s first-half opener.
Palace used the £30m Everton paid them for Bolasie on signing Benteke in the summer, spending £32m on the former Liverpool player, and he is already justifying that kind of fee.
Unhappy reunion
So while Benteke was doing all the right things to ensure he justified his price-tag, Bolasie was doing the opposite.
It wasn’t the most impressive of performances for the winger against his old club, and he was eventually booked in the 88th minute for a foul on Joel Ward.
He’ll be hoping for a better day when Everton travel to Selhurst Park later this season.
Belgium Brothers…
So the game ended with both Belgium international strikers have their say on the final result.
Romelu Lukaku and Christian Benteke have both enjoyed good starts to the season individually and they will have been happy with their contributions during the 1-1 stalemate at Goodison Park on Friday.