Crystal Palace held at Everton after controversial disallowed goal
Crystal Palace had a goal controversially disallowed as their Premier League winning streak came to an end with a 1-1 draw at Everton.
Palace were left questioning the call from referee Jon Moss after his assistant's flag went up when Damien Delaney converted a second-half header and, following a discussion between the two officials, it was decided the effort should not stand.
That was shortly after Christian Benteke had equalised with a superb header of his own, cancelling out Romelu Lukaku's excellent 35th-minute free-kick.
Ronald Koeman's Toffees, looking to bounce back from their first league defeat of the season last time out at Bournemouth, had been the better side in the first half.
Palace - victorious in their previous three league matches - upped their game after the break, but needed a couple of goal-line clearances to ensure the contest ended all-square.
Everton move up from fifth to third in the table, while Palace stay seventh.
The hosts made a fairly dominant start to the contest, with the likes of ex-Palace winger Yannick Bolasie, Ross Barkley - looking to impress England interim manager Gareth Southgate, who was watching from the stands - and Lukaku to the fore.
Bolasie sent a decent cross towards Lukaku, but Delaney just got there first to head behind
Lukaku then found Barkley, whose hugely ambitious shot from distance skewed into the stand.
Moments later, Delaney looked to have given away a penalty as he brought down Bryan Oviedo in the Palace box, but the assistant referee's flag was up for offside, and Lukaku subsequently had a low shot saved by Steve Mandanda.
Everton's pressure yielded a goal after they were awarded a free-kick when Delaney lunged with a high foot towards Phil Jagielka just outside the area
Jagielka handled the ball, but it appeared he had done so while trying to avoid the boot of Delaney.
Lukaku stepped up to take the set-piece and curled it in fine style over a pretty static wall and in, leaving Mandanda virtually stood still.
Palace - whose manager Alan Pardew was once again linked with the England job this week - had shown some promise, but it still came as quite a surprise when they hit back five minutes after the break.
Benteke rose above Seamus Coleman to connect with Joel Ward's cross and guided a header inside the far post.
As Everton looked to make a swift response, Idrissa Gueye's shot was blocked by Martin Kelly, with James Tomkins clearing the looping, loose ball off the line.
Palace then thought they had grabbed the lead as Delaney headed in, but the flag was up again.
Replays showed as the delivery was made to Delaney, he had been onside, with Tomkins off but not really involved
James McArthur, standing in front of goal, was then off as Delaney headed it, but did not touch the ball.
Confusion reigned as Moss went over to his assistant to discuss the incident for a number of seconds, before deciding the effort should not be allowed.
The visitors then once again cleared off the line as Jason Puncheon diverted away a header from Gareth Barry.
Tomkins had an effort saved, and Coleman scooped over the bar at the other end, before Bolasie was booked late on for a reckless challenge on Ward.
Source : PA
Source: PA