Ten-man Everton hold Crystal Palace to force FA Cup third-round replay
Everton and Crystal Palace could not be separated (Adam Davy/PA)
Crystal Palace and Everton will replay their FA Cup third-round clash after their Selhurst Park encounter ended in a goalless draw.
The Toffees were down to 10 men after Dominic Calvert-Lewin was shown red for a challenge in the 79th minute of a contest that began under a south London downpour.
Those who braved the rain took in a largely uneventful first half that ended with a single shot on target for the visitors and none for the hosts.
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Palace could not capitalise on the extra-man advantage through nine minutes of stoppage time, the visitors suffering a second-half blow when Dwight McNeil was carried off on a stretcher after sustaining what appeared to be a lower-leg injury.
Both Sean Dyche and Roy Hodgson fielded strong line-ups ,with three changes for Everton and two enforced swaps for Palace with Ghana international Jordan Ayew having already departed for the Africa Cup of Nations.
Teenage summer signing Matheus Franca made his long-awaited first start the hosts in place of Michael Olise, back on Hodgson’s injured list with a hamstring issue sustained after netting twice in the Eagles’ 3-1 victory over Brentford.
It was Ayew’s replacement, Jeffrey Schlupp, who was the first to get a shot away, ultimately a simple save for Joao Virginia inside three minutes, and there were little in the way of chances as the contest entered its 20th minute.
Jeffrey Schlupp went closest for Palace early on (Adam Davy/PA)
Arnaut Danjuma, who had previously fired into the
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