In the first half, Palace’s Eberechi Eze had ruled the roost with arbitrary sway as Everton struggled to contain Palace’s maverick tendency. His jinking run brought Palace’s first equaliser after he was clipped by Jarrad Branthwaite. Eze rolled in the resultant penalty.
Dyche’s response was to introduce Idrissa Gueye – the only casualty of last week’s home draw with Brighton – at the break. Ostensibly Gueye’s role was to shackle Eze, but in the way planets align for those with momentum, Gueye contributed far more. Indeed, he won the game for Everton. Gueye’s miscue from one side of the area fell Mykolenko on the other. Mykolenko’s volley rattled the post. Doucoure tapped in the loose ball.
Palace equalised for a second time when Jefferson Lerma looped a header forwards from the edge of the area. Unaccountably, James Tarkowski ducked, allowing Odsonne Edouard to nip in and poke past an incandescent Jordan Pickford.
The move of the match brought Everton’s winner and Gueye was its inspiration and trigger-puller. He drove forwards and found Abdoulaye, whose wonderful return pass took out the Palace defence. With one sublime right footed touch, Gueye set himself up to guide the winner with his left through Tyrick Mitchell’s legs and past Sam Johnstone for the Senegal international’s first Everton goal since a trip to Huddersfield Town in 2018.
Meanwhile, for all their endeavour Palace created few chances and Roy Hodgson’s quest for Premier League victory over Everton for the first time Yousouff Mulumbu’s May 2011 winner for West Bromwich Albion, goes on. “I’m sad and frustrated,” he lamented.