Koeman says draw was fair result

Everton manager Ronald Koeman was probably more relieved than frustrated with the draw after he saw his side overrun in the second half by a Crystal Palace team that could be aggrieved to leave Goodison Park with just a point.

“You like to win at home, so of course so we are disappointed - but it’s a fair result with what we saw on the pitch. I’m happy with the team performance. I think the team worked very hard.

“Very good defending was key tonight. I thought we were outstanding defending set plays against a tough team.

“In football you can’t stop everything - and it was a great goal by Benteke.

“Probably the best chance of the second half fell to Idrissa Gueye but then we maybe had some luck with the offside decision when they could have made it 2-1. “

The Dutchman was quite critical of referee Jon Moss, who handed out nine yellow cards on the day.

“I don't know if it was offside but it was difficult to understand all of the decisions of the referee today, even with that one he could have made a fault.

"I spoke to Alan Pardew and we were really upset as there were a lot of decisions both ways and yellow cards.

"Come on, it's Premier League football, the referee needs to understand that.

“I think it was a fair result.

“All the points we’ve gained so far have been deserved and, overall, I think that’s positive. Of course, we need to improve and we need to be better but the season so far, in my opinion, has been very positive.”

Koeman was happy to see Romelu Lukaku’s freekick go in -

“We have some good players who can take free-kicks and, of course, we also give attention to offensive free-kicks.

“It was a great goal because it’s not easy to score when there is a wall with tall players. To get it over the wall and into the goal was a great effort.”

Everton go into the international break in decent position, with an eye to what might have been after they picked up only one point of the last six.

"It's a good point.

"Of course you would like to win at home, even more so when you're 1-0 up, but it's very tough.

"A big compliment to the team was how we defended the second balls and set plays against a difficult team.

"But one time they took the chance and earned a draw. Finally, we got one point and it's not a bad point.

"We have had a really good start to the season. The position in the table is not everything to look on but we can improve, we need to improve.

“We're doing a good job so far and we would like to continue."