Everton were forced to played out to a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace at Goodison Park in the Premier League on Friday evening.

Christian Benteke cancelled out Romelu Lukaku’s first-half goal as both sides were forced to share the spoils at Goodison Park.

Both side’s got off to a slow start in the opening exchanges of the game, despite  the Toffee’s seeing most of the possession, while Palace offered no chances going forward.

However, the Toffees broke the deadlock in the 35th minute when striker Romelu Lukaku curled home a sublime free-kick which gave Palace goalkeeper Steve Mandanda no chance of saving the ball.

Everton were the better side for the first half  and went into the half-time interval with a deserved 1-0 lead as while Palace failed to register a single effort on target.

However, five minutes into the second half the Eagles levelled matters when Joel Ward picked out Benteke, who sent his header into the far corner to make it 1-1.

In the 65th minute, Everton had a chance to take the lead for the second time in the match when Gareth Barry’s header was cleared off the line by Palace midfielder Jason Puncheon.

With time running out, both teams opted for changes as Everton introduced Belgium wing Kevin Mirallas, while Palace brought on French midfielder Yohan Cabaye as both sides went in search of a goal.

In the closing stages of the match, both sides pushed on for a winning goal but struggled to carve out clear-cut opportunities and were forced to settle for a point each.

Image: Premier League website