Conor Gallagher celebrated a brace Sunday as Crystal Palace cruised to a 3-1 win over Everton.
“I think it was a fantastic performance from us,” Gallagher said. “It was a bit nervy after they scored but we defended superbly. I’ve felt like we’ve been unlucky recently. We wanted to give the fans a performance today and we did. I love it, them [the fans] singing my name is a great feeling for me, it gives me confidence. We are not where we want to be in the table so hopefully we can pick up some more points (this week).”
Palace took the three points and moved ahead of Everton in the Premier League standings.
Gallagher found the back of net right before the break (41′) before James Tomkins (62′) made in 2-0. Salomon Rondon made it 2-1 soon after (70′) before Gallagher sealed the deal with a beauty of a strike (90’+3′).
“It was a big team performance,” Palace manager Patrick Vieira said. “We stick together and to win a game we needed to win took a lot of personality and courage. I am really pleased for them. Today was a hard process to go through but that is how you improve.”
The win this weekend ended 13-match losing streak for Palace vs Everton.
“There is still a lot to come from him [Gallagher],” Vieira added. “We need to manage his strength and find out the best way to manage his energy. For us he is a fantastic player to have as it gives everything for his team.”
Palace struck first before halftime, but they were clearly the more dominant team in the second half. They created chance after chance, with very little opposition. Rondon scored his first goal for the club to make things feel competitive, at least, but Rafael Benitez’s side just didn’t have the quality attacks expected in a match like this.
“The team in terms of commitment and desire, you cannot complain about that,” Benitez said, when asked about his future with the club. “It’s just that the decisions sometimes are not right. We aim not to repeat those same mistakes in the future.”
Five points in Benitez’s last 10 games.
Since October 17, Everton have played nine premier League matches. 7 losses, 1 draw, and 1 win — with 20 goals conceded, and 7 goals scored.
“It was a strange game,” Benitez said. “They started well and then we adjusted our positions and got more control, but when we had control they scored. At the start of the second half another mistake from a corner, and another mistake at the end and you concede. You cannot do that in the Premier League. I would say coming here we knew they would try to play and be offensive. As soon as we changed the shape we had the control. We had the chances at 2-1 and we were there.”
Everton, now 14th in the Premier League table, have a tough week coming up with a matchup vs Chelsea on Thursday, 16 December, with Leicester City on the schedule just a few days later (19 December).
Palace will match up with Southampton (Wednesday, 15 December) before a weekend fixture against Watford (18 December).
