Rob Green: Everton unfortunate not to get first-half penalty v Crystal Palace
Rob Green claims Everton were unlucky not to get a penalty when Joel Ward collided with Lucas Digne inside the Crystal Palace penalty area.
The incident happened after five minutes when Ward struck Digne with his arm.
The Frenchman was attempting to join the attack and Ward used his strength to ensure he won the ball, which he did – Digne went down holding his neck.
Remarking on the incident, Green told Sky Sports, “The arm was across…Ward is fortunate.”
Opportunity missed
A penalty early on would have undoubtedly changed the course of the match.
Everton responded well to the decision not going our way as we dominated Palace in the early stages and posed different threats.
Richarlison missed two big chances, one with his head and another on his right foot when he had time and space in the box.
Mason Holgate also produced an unbelievable pass to put Dominic Calvert-Lewin through on goal – the England striker inexplicably hesitated to shoot before firing straight at Vicente Guaita.
We created good chances in the first-half, which is a positive, but a free shot from 12 yards would surely have given us an early lead.
Though judging by our finishing, and Guaita’s display, the Palace goalkeeper may have kept that one out too.
However, we did take the lead so the biggest problem was not scoring, but managing the game well and seeing out a result.
We invited Palace onto us to the point where an equaliser was inevitable – that is unacceptable if we want to qualify for the Champions League.
In other Everton news, Jean-Phillipe Gbmain sent a social media message to Toffees fans after making injury return.
Be sure to follow Goodison News on Facebook and Twitter for 24/7 updates on Everton and more exclusive interviews with Kevin Campbell.