By Rachel Steinberg, PA
David Moyes concedes his Everton side are still looking at the relegation zone with “huge caution” despite securing a significant 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
New signing Charly Alcaraz snatched an 80th-minute winner on his first Toffees start after Jean-Philippe Mateta cancelled out Beto’s late first-half opener two minutes after the restart.
The result drew Moyes’ 13th-placed visitors level on 30 points with their opponents and 13 points clear of Ipswich in 18th.
“Of course there’s still huge caution,” said Moyes. “But I want to start believing that we can be better now.
“I want more improvement, I want to see more improvement from the players as well.
“I want us to play better when we can but I don’t want them to lose the good habits that they’ve got.
“They’ve been tough, resilient, committed to all the things which are, when you’re not quite so good, you’ve got to make sure you do those bits well.”
Palace came close to an opener twice, first via Jefferson Lerma, who had the ball in the back of the net with a header.
It was chalked off after a VAR check could not conclusively find proof to reverse the on-field call, that Justin Devenny’s corner had drifted out of play before the Colombian nodded it in.
Ismaila Sarr then hammered an effort off the underside of the crossbar, but it was Beto who broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute.
Palace were made to pay for a big mistake when poor communication resulted in Tyrick Mitchell’s throw-in escaping Lerma’s awareness, allowing Alcaraz to swoop in and set up his team-mate for the opener.
Mateta drew the sides level – his goal standing after a lengthy VAR check – but Palace failed to clear a cross late on and Alcaraz ultimately took advantage.
Moyes, who admitted he was “annoyed” by Everton’s first-half effort, added: “I didn’t think the performance was great, but it was great to see an improving team get another win, because it’s really important for us.”
Palace have been plagued by poor home form and remain in search of a third Premier League victory at Selhurst Park.
Boss Oliver Glasner said: “It was a good reaction after half-time and we had the momentum but we couldn’t take it again.
“We played a similar game against Brentford where we made the first mistake that led to a penalty.
“Today we made the first big mistake that led to 1-0, and now it’s important for us to learn from these kinds of games.
“It’s my job with my staff to give the players better solutions in games like today because I think it is a game we should not lose.
“But we lost a second time, so that makes it even more frustrating, and now it’s again up to us to learn from it and improve their performance.”
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