Everton hold on for point at Crystal Palace after Holgate red card

As Premier League spectacles go, Gareth Southgate will know he could easily have picked a more entertaining way to spend his Saturday afternoon. With the England manager back on his old stamping ground to watch his former club attempt to record a fourth successive victory since his predecessor’s return to replace Patrick Vieira, a stubborn defensive performance from 10-man Everton was enough to earn Sean Dyche’s side a point that could prove to be extremely valuable.

While it was not enough to stop them from dropping into the bottom three after Leicester’s win over Wolves, even more heartening for Dyche after his side survived Mason Holgate’s red card 10 minutes from time will have been the sight of Dominic Calvert-Lewin lasting until the 90th minute before being substituted. The England striker could not take a golden opportunity to secure Everton’s second away win of the campaign but at least provided a fulcrum in attack that has been sorely missing all season.

Dyche had insisted before Everton’s trip to south London that a 1-0 defeat to National League North side Chester in a behind-closed-doors game on Tuesday was no reason for alarm after Calvert-Lewin came through unscathed on his return from injury. He was duly handed his first start since the beginning of February – Dyche’s first game after succeeding Frank Lampard - with Holgate also recalled.

Unsurprisingly, Palace were unchanged from their impressive victory over Southampton last weekend, although goalkeeper Vicente Guaita had to settle for a place on the bench after recovering from injury having failed to dislodge Sam Johnstone. Roy Hodgson has attributed Palace’s remarkable turnaround in form to the way his players have responded to his instructions to