LONDON: Crystal Pal­a­ce and Everton will meet again in the FA Cup third round after the Toffees had Dominic Calvert-Lewin sent off in the 79th minute of a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park on Thursday that sent the tie to a replay.

The 26-year-old Everton striker was shown a straight red card after a careless studs-up lunge on Nathaniel Clyne led to a VAR review and after viewing the footage referee Chris Kavanagh brandished the red card.

On a rainy night in south London, managers Roy Hodgson and Sean Dyche chose to field strong teams and though both sides made decent goal-scoring chances, they largely cancelled each other out.

Everton’s best chance came from a first-half corner taken by James Garner corner which almost crept in at the near post, but Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson reacted quickly to clear with his feet.

The hosts threatened with crosses and set-pieces after the sending-off and forward Eberechi Eze forced a superb stoppage-time save from Joao Virginia, but the home side failed to make the most of their one-man advantage.

After nine minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle to send the tie back to Goodison Park.

Everton have appealed the red card, the Premier League club said on Friday.

“Everton Football Club has today notified the FA of its decision to appeal the red card issued to Dominic Calvert-Lewin in our FA Cup third round fixture at Crystal Palace on Thursday evening,” the club said in a statement.

Everton boss Sean Dyche said after the game that he was still a fan of VAR but that it was beginning to test his patience.

“It seems a bit confused at the moment. I think we’re all aware it needs tidying up,” Dyche said.“I thought it was getting tidied up but it seems to have stepped back a little bit.”

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2024