Everton fans will enjoy their Saturday night as their team beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at Selhurst Park to ease some of the pressure on Roberto Martinez’s men.
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The Toffees last won on Dec. 15 at home against Queens Park Rangers and at the seventh time of asking they finally got another.
Romelu Lukaku got the only goal of the game less than two minutes in and Everton sat back, soaked up pressure and looked composed to shutout Palace at home. It was yet another fine defensive display from the Merseyside club, as Phil Jagielka and John Stones looked solid and their full backs Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines were back to their best.
The performance, as well as the result, pleased Martinez.“It’s a terrific feeling. When you come to Selhurst Park you need to be at your very best to keep a clean sheet. The performance was just what was needed,” Martinez said. “It’s a great feeling for the players. I hope that today can be a real kick-start in our season. We created the best chances of the game. I thought we defended extremely well, it wasn’t a fortunate win. I thought Romelu [Lukaku] was quite infectious in the way he worked hard for the team. He gave everything.”
If Everton had lost on Saturday, they would have been just four points above the drop zone and Palace would have jumped ahead of them. Now, they are on 26 points and just four points from being back in the top 10.
After finishing fifth last year, there’s no doubt 2014-15 is a down campaign for the Toffees. However with a mature display against Palace, the Toffees are now unbeaten in three games and have conceded just one goal in those matches.
Staying solid will be the key to success between now and the end of the season for Everton.