Grealish grabs late winner as Everton end Crystal Palace’s u...

Oliver Glasner felt the pain of defeat for the first time since 16 April. Channelled the right way and Crystal Palace will become a better team, claimed a manager with much to be positive about. But that pain, laced with disbelief at losing their 19-game unbeaten run against Everton, will sting for some time yet.

Glasner has worked wonders at Palace but improving his club’s miserable record against Everton proved a step too far. The visitors should have been celebrating a first win at Everton since 2014 but a lack of ruthlessness, a rare defensive lapse and a stirring finish from David Moyes’s side combined to shatter that aspiration. Jack Grealish’s somewhat fortunate 93rd-minute winner, his first Everton goal, secured an unlikely victory for the hosts after Iliman Ndiaye’s penalty had cancelled out Daniel Muñoz’s opener. Palace’s disbelieving players sank to their knees and rubbed their heads after seeing their proud unbeaten sequence vanish on the banks of the River Mersey. As well they might.

“It hurts,” the Palace manager said. “For 60-70 minutes I saw a fantastic performance from our team but we didn’t decide the game when we could have done. I am a terrible loser and maybe in the international break I can reflect on this great run but it is not my feeling at the minute.

“I told my players they can be really proud of the next chapter they wrote in the Crystal Palace history book after winning two trophies. The longest unbeaten run in over 120 years is a huge achievement but on the other side it feels like it should be at least 20 now. Maybe we need to feel this pain again. We don’t want it but we need it to make the next step forward.”

Palace were hugely impressive in the first half, Everton a distant second best until the interval introductions of Carlos Alcaraz and Beto began to turn the tide. Even then Jean-Philippe Mateta should have put the game beyond the hosts.

“I thought Crystal Palace might have a hangover from Thursday night,” said Moyes of his opponents’ European debut. “But they should have been out of sight. They should have been 3-0 up but we stuck at it and eventually got a bit of fortune.”

Palace set the tone for a dominant first-half display from the start with long throws from Chris Richards and Adam Wharton’s incisive distribution causing Everton endless problems. Jordan Pickford, making his 300th Premier League appearance for Everton, was tested twice in the opening two minutes, by Yéremy Pino and Tyrick Mitchell. England’s undisputed No 1 goalkeeper made more impressive stops to keep out Marc Guéhi from close range and a first-time strike from Mateta.

It was a question of when, not if, the visitors would take the lead and they did so with a goal that showcased Palace’s individual quality and the collective intelligence of a team that know precisely what their manager wants. The impressive Pino held up play well despite the close attentions of two Everton players to release Ismaïla Sarr. The Senegal international rolled a perfectly weighted pass into the overlapping Muñoz who, with Pickford rushing across goal, converted his second goal in two games with ease. “We’re gonna win the league,” sang the jubilant Palace hordes.

Palace’s first-half superiority tried the patience of the home support almost as much as Everton’s performance. Moyes’s team were slow and sloppy, with the summer signings Thierno Barry and Tyler Dibling toiling badly. Both were unceremoniously hooked after 45 minutes. It was the third time in four games that Moyes has switched his two main strikers at half-time. The changes paid off.

Barry’s replacement, Beto, and particularly Alcaraz injected an urgency and presence into the attack that had been absent. That said, Mateta squandered two clear openings before the home side could gather momentum, chipping Pickford when through on goal only for Jake O’Brien to head clear and somehow slicing wide of an exposed goal after Sarr’s shot deflected into his path. His second miss proved a key moment.

Everton were handed a route back into the game when Maxence Lacroix misread Vitalii Mykolenko’s pass towards Beto and collided with Tim Iroegbunam as the substitute advanced on his blind side. It was a clear penalty and Ndiaye coolly sent Henderson the wrong way from the spot. Suddenly, having been in almost total control, Palace were on the back foot.

In stoppage time Alcaraz released the goalscorer on the right. Ndiaye floated a beautiful cross into the six-yard box that Beto, in the words of his manager, “should have buried”. Henderson somehow saved at point-blank range but was beaten when Grealish read Muñoz’s attempted clearance and diverted the ball into the roof of the net. The roof of Hill Dickinson Stadium almost came off. Palace’s luck was out and their proud unbeaten run was history.