Everton have growing concern as club awaits appeal verdict from points deduction that forced relegation fight

Amadou Onana rescued a point for Everton with a late header that did little to mask a worrying trend at Goodison Park.

The 22-year-old - left out as Sean Dyche had his most trusted central midfield four available for the first time in two months - came off the bench to rise highest at the back post to save his side from what was shaping up to be a damaging defeat.

His header earned a valuable point that lifted Everton out of the bottom three and prevented Crystal Palace from snatching a win that would have halted the club’s spiral towards the relegation zone.

EFC RATINGS: Onana the hero but just one good vs Palace

AS IT HAPPENED: Everton 1-1 Crystal Palace updates and analysis

But this was a poor performance in which the hosts failed to land an early blow in the survival fight and missed a golden opportunity to pull Palace and several other clubs into their clutches. Everton instead followed an increasingly concerning pattern by once again proving unable to turn up to a rare game they started as favourites. With home games against bottom half teams a key feature of the final months of the campaign, that has to change.

This game was not a must win, but it offered both clubs the chance to set the tone for the final months of their seasons. For Everton, it was an opportunity to start a surge away from trouble against a team on a poor run of form, bereft of four of its best players and with assistant managers leading the team in the dugout.

That backdrop made Everton favourites despite not having won in the league since December 16. That win over Burnley was also the last time Dyche had the luxury of choosing from Abdoulaye Doucoure, James Garner, Idrissa Gueye and Onana as he built his three man midfield, a storyline that