Everton were stunned at home in their quest for a place in the Champions League UEFA with a 3-2 shock defeat to Crystal Palace .After their victory over West Ham on Tuesday swung momentum back to
Arsenal in the race for fourth place in the Premier League Everton
failed to meet their rivals.Goodison
Park fans were expecting an eighth consecutive home win in the league
but Palace had not read the script, with goals from Jason Puncheon ,
Scott Dann and Cameron Jerome giving them only a quarter victory outside the season .Palace looked dangerous throughout a frantic game where Everton never
got into high gear , and they took a deserved first half lead through
the Puncheon shaped - who scored his seventh goal of the season.The advantage was doubled shortly after half-time by the powerful head
Dann before substitute Steven Naismith halved the arrears with plenty
of time remaining .But the strike after 73 minutes Jerome restored the two -goal lead ,
and even if a strike later Kevin Mirallas has established a nervous
finish, Everton could not find a way back .Host
- who made three changes as part of an attack line-up, with Ross
Barkley, Aiden McGeady and Mirallas any departure - forced the pace from
the outset, with Gareth Barry lowered his head on a corner kick from
Leighton Baines the first minute.Palace, but absorbed early pressure Everton and they look dangerous on the break themselves.They
went closest to breaking the deadlock in the opening stages when, after
20 minutes, Jerome found space waiting in the penalty area , but his
header on a cross from Joe Ledley flashed little - above the bar - although the striker palace seemed to be in a position to out of play.Visitors have their blood pressure after 23 minutes when Tim Howard could only parry the Right Cross Yannick Bolasie . The ball fell to Puncheon , who finished sharply from 10 yards for his fourth goal in three games.It was nearly 2-0 before the break when a breakaway saw Bolasie hit
the base of the post from 30 meters, and an imbalance Jerome could not
put the rebound wide.Romelu Lukaku then diverted Barkley cut-back on the goal, but Julian Speroni dived smartly to push the ball wide .Ledley forced a fine save from Howard two minutes into the second
period , but from the resulting corner defender powerful head down Dann
stunned Goodison Park as he beat the goalkeeper could not see double the
Palace .McGeady responded almost immediately when his fierce 30-yard strike bent just wide of the left post Speroni .Halftime substitute Naismith not pull Everton back into the game when
he converted from close range after Baines had headed a deep cross
Mirallas on its way after 61 minutes.Mirallas
then almost equalized when he met a cross soaking Baines at fullback ,
but with 17 minutes Puncheon was again the architect with superb close
control on the edge of the box, drag the ball in Jerome, who curled up in the bottom corner.Everton refused to fix, even then, and four minutes left throughball
Barkley was deflected into the path of Mirallas , who rounded Speroni
and fired home.But
despite another chance for the end of the Belgian front, which started
badly with the goal at his thank you , Everton could not find a way back
as clinging to effectively end any lingering fears palace relegation, and at the same time to blow the race for fourth place wide open Premier League.
Click here to see goals
Click here to see goals
