ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Tim Howard and Everton missed a chance to cozy up to the Premier League's European places on Monday night, settling for a 1-1 home share with Crystal Palace.
The US netminder chalked up four saves and a cross capture to run his league unbeaten streak to five games. Howard was at his best to deny a free Connor Wickham header on 15 minutes. He also added a fine kick save on Yannick Bolasie midway through the second half, but an unmarked Scott Dann would open the scoring from a corner kick mere moments later.
Everton ran play for most of the second half, but appeared to be short on luck as strike star Romelu Lukaku pinged the frame twice. The Belgium ace eventually bagged a deserved goal nine minutes from time to extend his goal-scoring run to six matches and rescue a point for the ninth-place Toffees.
The result kept the hosts four points shy of Tottenham, who currently reside in the final Europa League slot.
