Toffees leave us in sticky situation

The former Millwall midfielder was close to completing a £2million summer move to Selhurst Park, but because of agent fees the deal was never pushed through, much to the frustration of Dowie, who would have been left cursing as Cahill demonstrated what the Eagles have been lacking all season – goals from midfield.

Iain Dowie said: “I thought the first half was very even and we were very much in the game and apart from a couple of late chances, restricted any threats they had.

“Gabor made a couple of good saves at the other end and Tom Soares had a good chance to get us back in the game. The second half was a different story though and the result was difficult to swallow.” The Palace boss reverted back to his preferred away day formation 4-5-1, resisting the temptation to start Sandor Torghelle alongside Andrew Johnson after his midweek hat-trick for the reserves.

But Palace made a sloppy start, especially defensively as Darren Powell and Fitz Hall twice let long Nigel Martyn punts bounce in the Palace defensive third, with the second one having disastrous consequences.

With Duncan Ferguson on his back, Darren Powell let Gabor Kiraly deal with the kick but instead of heading the ball away, the Hungarian caught the ball and marginally took it outside the box.

The keeper was lucky not to be sent off, but for once Uriah Rennie used common sense and only produced a yellow card as it clearly wasn’t deliberate.

But Palace were punished in other ways, as Everton’s on loan Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta curled the resulting free kick over the Palace wall and into the net.

Despite the early setback the Eagles would still have been confident of getting something, with Wayne Routledge catching the eye and, once again, the most dangerous Palace player by a distance – it’s a pity he doesn’t get enough of the ball being marooned on the right.

Michael Hughes tested Martyn with a low shot from an acute angle, before Johnson cut in from the left and shot straight at the former Palace legend.

Tom Soares then missed the Eagles best chance of the game four minutes before the break when he ghosted in between Weir and Watson and headed Granville’s cross just wide.

Kiraly made amends for his earlier error by miraculously keeping out a Duncan Ferguson header with his leg, after Bent picked out his strike partner for a free header.

Dowie would have been pleased with his side’s response to going one behind early on, but any hope of getting something from the game was quashed pretty much straight from the restart when Cahill ran from deep and latched on to a Marcus Bent pass inside the box and fired past Kiraly into the roof of the net.

Cahill added his second eight minutes later, heading in a delightful Kilbane cross after his run from deep was again not tracked by the Palace midfield.

Dowie reacted to going three down by bringing on Torghelle and Watson, but by then it was too little too late, even though a significant improvement was noticeable when they were introduced.

Watson had a shot well saved by Martyn before he teed up Torghelle inside the Everton box, only for the Hungarian’s side-footed effort to hit the post.

Palace’s misery was completed three minutes from time when Everton’s 16-year-old striker James Vaughan made history by becoming the Premiership’s youngest ever scorer when he slid in to convert Kevin Kilbane’s cross.

Not a good day at the Palace office.

MATCH STATS
PALACE STAR MAN: Wayne Routledge The hub of Palace’s limited creativity and easily the most dangerous player on view. Restricted on the right with the amount of ball he receives, could a more central role for the want-away star be the answer to the Eagles inability to deliver the killer pass?
PALACE: Kiraly 7, Leigertwood 6, Hall 7, Powell 6, Granville 6 Riihilahti 6 (Watson 57,7), Routledge 8, Hughes 7, Soares 6, Lakis 5 (Torghelle 57,7), Johnson 7 Subs not used: Speroni, Hudson, Borrowdale Everton Palace 6 On target 3 5 Off target 8 10 Fouls 15 1 Yellow cards 1 0 Red cards 0