David Moyes continued to enjoy his “Dream Start” to life in the Everton Dugout after he had led the Toffees to a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Moyes looked up as goals in both half of Beto and Carlos Alcaraz earned the points, even though he was fed back by the strike of Jean-Philippe Mateta just after the break.
It closed a memorable week for the Scot, which supervised a final gasp draw against rivals and Premier League leaders Liverpool in the last Merseyside Derby in Goodison Park.
Since the first match of Moyes since the return to the club, Everton has picked up 13 points (W4 D1 L1), more than any other team in the division at the time.
The result moved Everton to the 13th in the table prior to Sunday's collision between Tottenham and Manchester United, and also 13 points free from the lower three.
“The players responded well. It was a dream start that came in and won so many games. Starting healthier in the Premier League,” Moyes told Sky Sports.
“I hope it will be the case. In the end I think we still have enough points. It has been a brilliant start, today it was a good victory for us, really scrappy.
“They showed great resilience and won in a difficult place against a team that has improved.
“Returning to Everton was something that I hoped would happen to happen, and I did not expect it to happen. It is great to be accepted again, and the fans have been brilliant,” he added.
“Even today we had brilliant support with us because I think they are starting to believe a little more in us and the team.
“Everton has had a difficult period and I certainly think that there is now light at the end of the tunnel with the new owners who come in.”
First start. First Aist.First Doel.
Charly Alcaraz. pic.twitter.com/ceyktdotvg
– Everton (@EVerton) February 15, 2025
In the meantime, Palace Manager Oliver Glasner said that his team should regard the defeat as a learning experience, after ending the match at the top in many of the statistics.
Palace indeed had an expected goals (XG) a total of 1.66 to 0.76 from Everton, while it also struck the woodwork by Ismaila Sarr barely a minute before Beto opened the score.
“It is frustrating and similar to the defeat against Brentford,” Glasner told Sky Sports.
“The game was exactly how we expected it and then it is of course difficult if we admit such goals.
Palace has now only won one of their last 21 Premier League matches against Everton (D9 L11) and last defeated the Toffees 3-1 in Selhurst Park in December 2021.
“The players tried everything and we had a great effort. It's not that easy to score against them. We had some chances, but we didn't have the efficiency,” said Glasner.
“It is not a game that we should lose. We had opportunities to win it. It was not what we wanted, but we have to accept it and we have to learn from these games.”
On a positive note, Mateta's Leveler two minutes after the restart continued its fine shape, so that his seventh goal was beaten in the Premier League in his last six performances.
It was indeed his 35th goal for Palace in the competition, with only Wilfried Zaha (68) scored more in the top flight than the Frenchman for Palace.
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