trio of Toffees players looked on in utter bewilderment as Chris Kavanagh reviewed a challenge from Dominic Calvert-Lewin on Nathaniel Clyne during Everton and Palace’s cup clash on January 4, where the striker went in high but seemingly avoided doing serious damage to his opponent.
Nevertheless, Kavanagh questionably saw fit to whip out the red card – which would be the headline story of that 0-0 affair in the English capital – but the Eagles failed to make the most of playing the final 15 minutes with an extra man on the pitch.
Everton have since succeeded with an appeal against Calvert-Lewin’s sending off, which added yet more fuel to the fire over the perpetual VAR debate, but it was Sean Dyche’s men who were on the correct end of a technological call during another goalless stalemate with Aston Villa in the weekend’s Premier League battle.
Alex Moreno and Abdoulaye Doucoure both had strikes ruled out for offside on the Goodison turf – the former’s took much longer to review, and while that point snapped Everton’s three-game losing run in the Premier League, it is now no wins in six for Dyche and co.
Everton have seemingly fallen back into old attacking habits too, as the Toffees are now without a goal in three straight matches, but they have triumphed in each of their last four FA Cup replays at Goodison Park and have not been beaten in such circumstances since 1993-94.
While Everton exerted themselves for over 90 minutes at the weekend, Palace were one of several Premier League teams to enjoy the rare luxury of a free weekend, giving Roy Hodgson plenty of time to mull over his side’s shortcomings from their initial stalemate with the Toffees.
Despite failing to get the job done against a 10-man Everton outfit, Palace’s draw at least marked an improvement on their 3-2 loss to Dyche’s men in November’s Premier League battle, and the Eagles have regained a touch of resilience over the Christmas and New Year period.
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Indeed, only one of Crystal Palace’s last five matches across all tournaments has ended in defeat – and even then Chelsea only bested their London rivals 2-1 – and Hodgson’s side boast praiseworthy points against Manchester City and Brighton & Hove Albion in that sequence, not to mention a morale-boosting beating of Brentford.
Confidence levels could plummet should Palace suffer a fourth FA Cup third-round exit in five seasons, though, and the Eagles’ winless run on the road now stands at four matches, but their most recent FA Cup replay in the 2016-17 season ended in a 2-1 success over Bolton Wanderers in the third round.
History favours the men in blue, though, as they have prevailed in each of their previous two FA Cup replays with Palace – albeit in games that happened all the way back in 1907 and 1972 – and they have strung together an eight-match unbeaten run versus the Eagles at Goodison Park since an enthralling 3-2 loss in 2014.
