Coleman strike sinks Crystal Palace

Jan 21, 2017 - 7:12 PM Sam Allardyce's anxious wait for a first Premier League win as Crystal Palace manager continued as his lacklustre side suffered a 1-0 home defeat by in-form Everton.

The defeat put Palace in the bottom three and the pressure was on Palace even before kickoff when Swansea City's shock win at Liverpool left the London club in the relegation places.

Had Christian Benteke's header found the net rather than the crossbar early on the jitters may have settled but Everton responded to dominate the game and took the points when Seamus Coleman fired the winner in the 87th minute.

Tom Davies split the Palace defence and Coleman did the rest with a shot that gave keeper Wayne Hennessey no chance.

Palace felt hard done by though as Everton had broken up field with their player Jeff Schlupp down injured.

"It was frustrating that Schlupp was injured and we couldn't get a sub on and the one player we had contained all day, Coleman, goes and scores - also it looked suspiciously offside," Allardyce told reporters.

"I feel the referee should have blown the whistle. Our player was injured and that's a decision the referee should have made. I don't think it's the responsibility of the players."

He could hardly argue about the outcome, though, with Everton having 16 attempts on Palace's goal while the hosts managed only one, in the 76th minute.

"I have been here before, I wouldn't say I enjoy it, but with the help of my back room staff, we'll get out of this," said Allardyce.

Everton have now gleaned 13 points from the last 15 available and remain in seventh place.

"In my opinion it was well deserved, overall we were the better football team and had the best chances in the game," Everton manager Ronald Koeman said.

Source: AAP