After going on a terrific run of form after being docked 10 points for Financial Fair Play breaches, Sean Dyche would have hoped his side could do the same after the Toffees were charged with another breach earlier this week. Instead, both sides got off to a lacklustre start with a real lack of action in the opening half-hour.
From this point on, it was the home side that looked likelier to open the deadlock as Dominic Calvert-Lewin forced Sam Johnstone into a save after creating space for himself in the box.
The Palace goalkeeper was relatively undisturbed heading towards HT.
That was until the 42nd minute when Andre Gomes had the Englishman scrambling across his goalline via a sublime free-kick from distance but the Eagles stopper couldn’t get a hand to it - sending Everton into the break with a valuable lead.
Following an uneventful first half in an attacking sense, Palace boss Roy Hodgson would have wanted a major improvement after the restart but the opening quarter-hour was as quiet as you could get with no shots at all for either side.
The game was a scrappy tussle with a lot of fouls turning it into a stop-start affair.
The game finally sparked into life when Everton players were calling for a penalty but while their appeals were waved away, the Eagles broke on the counter, forcing Portuguese goalkeeper Joao Virginia into a smart stop from Odsonne Edouard’s effort.
Looking to avoid consecutive third-round exits in the FA Cup, Eagles boss Hodgson turned to his bench, making all five substitutions - one of which drew a negative reaction from the away fans after Eberechi Eze was one of the men withdrawn.
In the end, the change in personnel had little to no effect as Dyche’s Everton side successfully defended their one-goal lead to progress to the next round.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Andre Gomes (Everton)
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