(Football news) The third-round FA Cup match saw the Lions defeat Middlesbrough 1-0 at the beginning of the year, while Crystal Palace forced the Toffees to play a rematch.
The match between Everton and Crystal Palace ended in a 0-0 draw last Thursday, with little goalmouth action to report. However, the referees at Selhurst Park once again made headlines for all the wrong reasons, as the Toffees played the last 15 minutes with 10 men due to an odd red card given to Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
The striker barely gave the Palace defender a graze as he challenged Nathaniel Clyne, but after a quick glance at the monitor, referee Chris Kavanagh decided to send Calvert-Lewin off the field, much to Everton’s dismay.
Though Calvert-Lewin’s red card and consequent suspension have now been overturned on appeal, Sean Dyche’s team will go into the weekend believing that justice has been served. However, another match on the schedule was not warmly received given their winter struggles.
Everton was defeated by all three of Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, and Wolverhampton Wanderers in their final three games of 2023; despite having played one more game than Luton Town in 18th place, they were only one point above the relegation zone after the stalemate at Selhurst Park at least ended their miserable four-game losing streak.
Everton has never lost four straight Premier League games under Dyche’s coaching, although they have lost their previous seven games while playing against clubs that are among the top six in the league standings. They have also gone nine games without a win against these teams.
