Carlo Ancelotti was left to rue some wasteful finishing from Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin as Everton dropped two Premier League points at home to Crystal Palace yesterday, speaking to The Toffees’ website.
What do Burnley, Newcastle, Fulham, Leeds, Leicester, West Ham United and now Crystal Palace all have in common? All of them have prevented Everton from winning at Goodison Park this season.
A dissatisfying run of home form continued on Easter Monday as a late strike from supersub Michy Batshuayi cancelled out James Rodriguez’s right-footed opener and left the Merseyside giants choking on West Ham’s dust in the Champions League race.
But while Everton have often struggled to carve out clear opportunities on home soil, they were more wasteful than blunt against Roy Hodgson’s Palace side.
Richarlison squandered a host of presentable opportunities while Calvert-Lewin was twice denied by Eagles keeper Vicente Guaita as he failed to notch goal number 20 of the season.
“The reason (for not winning) was we weren’t able to kill the game when we had the opportunity,” Ancelotti sighed after a result that leaves Everton five points off fourth spot.
“We had a lot of chances, which, in the last games, we didn’t have. We were not ready (to take those opportunities).
“Usually our strikers in that situation were, in the past, really clinical. Tonight, they could have done better.
“After we opened the scoring, we had opportunities and could have closed the game. In the end, sometimes this can happen.”
Guaita ended the game with six saves to his name, producing a pair of brilliant reflex stops in the final 20 minutes to keep a frustrated Richarlison off the scoresheet.
And, in truth, Everton only have themselves to blame as the Champions League places drift further over the horizon.
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