Crystal Palace analysis: A missed opportunity as same old errors threaten Eagles' Premier League status

Crystal Palace were denied a crucial Premier League victory after a controversial penalty earned Everton a 2-2 draw.

Roy Hodgson's team twice took the lead at Selhurst Park with goals from James McArthur and Wilfried Zaha, but were frustrated when they felt Oumar Niasse dived to earn a penalty and then scored Everton's second goal by half-time.

The visitors showed little, beyond resilience, to strengthen caretaker manager David Unsworth's bid to be appointed on a permanent basis amid the expectation Everton will again approach Watford for Marco Silva in the coming week.

For 20th-placed Palace, a wider concern will be dropping two further points after again impressing, and the risk of falling too far behind at the bottom of the league.

Giuseppe Muro analysis the key points at Selhurst Park...

A missed opportunity for Palace

The Eagles were the better team for most of the game but two Everton equalisers - one from a contentious penalty and another from a mistake from Scott Dann - denied them what would have been a crucial three points in their bid to get out of trouble.

The result leaves Palace three points adrift at the bottom and five from safety. This was a game they could, and probably should, have won.

Loftus-Cheek quiet on club return

The midfielder shone on his England debut against Germany last week and the spotlight was on him at Selhurst Park after he was named in the side after he recovered from a back injury.

Loftus-Cheek tried to unlock the Everton defence as Palace pushed for a winner but could not impact the game as much as he would have liked.

Errors cost Eagles again

Palace cannot afford to make the sort of mistakes that cost them a win here. Julian Speroni put Scott Dann under pressure with a pass that he did not need to make.

Right before half-time, Speroni should have kicked the ball long rather than try to play out from the back.

Dann could also have done better and a team in Palace’s position cannot afford to make those kind of errors.

At least Benteke is fit

The striker was on the bench but came on in the second half after after almost two months out with a knee injury and his return will give Palace a real boost.

Palace need Benteke back up to speed quickly and need him to hit goalscoring form to get them out of trouble.

Oumar Niasse could become the first Premier League player to get retrospective banned for diving under the new rules.

Toffees striker faces sticky moment

Niasse threw himself to the ground to earn Everton a penalty when there appeared to be no contract from Scott Dann.

Referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot, and Leighton Baines equalised, but the FA and their diving panel will surely look into the incident.