Amadou Onana's header denies Crystal Palace and saves the point for Everton | first division

The manner of his arrival as crystal Palace The manager was unfortunate, to put it mildly, but Oliver Glasner will have been heartened on seeing Roy Hodgson's former team for the first time as they earned a valuable draw against Everton at Goodison Park. The point and performance helped the visitors much more than the work of Sean Dyche's team.

Jordan Ayew gave Palace a good lead against the former Eintracht Frankfurt manager, but a late header from Everton Substitute Amadou Onana saved a point for the hosts, who were in poor form. The point lifted Everton out of the relegation zone on goal difference with Luton Town, who have played a game less, but will need a big improvement to stay out of it regardless of the outcome of their appeal against a 10-point deduction.

The new Palace manager was sitting alongside chairman Steve Parish in the directors' box at Goodison, having been confirmed as Hodgson's successor shortly before kick-off. His predecessor's coaches, Ray Lewington and Paddy McCarthy, took charge of this match as planned when the former England manager fell ill on Friday. The visitors switched to a three-man central defense with Daniel Muñoz and Tyrick Mitchell stretching Everton as full-backs.

Glasner's first impressions of English football were deeply unappealing. The two recent FA Cup clashes between the teams had lowered expectations for their fourth meeting of the season and he lived up to them. The first half consisted mainly of Everton throwing long ball after long ball in the general direction of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Palace centre-backs Joel Ward, Joachim Andersen and Chris Richards absorbing them with ease. There was no plan B on the part of Dyche's team.

The new Palace manager was enthusiastic about the defensive solidity and organization of the visitors. Palace also had better chances to produce a terrible first half, but a poor shot and goal-line clearance gave Everton reprieve. Odsonne Édouard shot straight at Jordan Pickford when he was well positioned and in space to the left of the Everton penalty area and Jefferson Lerma took advantage of a tempting opportunity after receiving a pass from Muñoz. Jean-Philippe Mateta came close to ending the deadlock with a header to the back post from a deep Adam Wharton corner only for Ashley Young to clear off the line.

Everton's hopes of improvement before the match centered on the return of top scorer Abdoulaye Doucouré, making only his second appearance since the team's last league win on 16 December due to a hamstring problem. Doucouré took advantage of the home team's first chance following a Ward clearance, but otherwise remained anonymous as Dyche's aerial play went past him. He was involved in Everton's brightest moment before the break, releasing Dwight McNeil in space on the left for a cross which Calvert-Lewin headed wide despite getting ahead of Richards. It was the end of a striker with little confidence after 18 games without scoring.

In fairness to the Everton centre-forward, he was too isolated to have any significant impact. Calvert-Lewin was expected to not only win the first ball but also the second. It was a daunting situation, and Everton's lack of quality in possession and their tendency to backtrack with it proved to be a severe test of Goodison's limited patience. A minute added at the end of the first half represented a small mercy.

The interval instructions did not produce any change in the pattern of play. Everton continued to squander possession cheaply and Palace continued to be the more threatening team. Jarrad Branthwaite, who endured a tough night against the powerful Mateta, escaped when he appeared to clip the striker's heels as he burst into the penalty area. Mateta also made light work of James Tarkowski's attentions and put Mitchell in goal after containing the Everton captain. Pickford intelligently came off his line to smother the full-back's attempt with his chest. Édouard sent an acrobatic kick high into the Park End stands as Wharton again caused problems for the home defense with a corner kick to the far post.

The course of the match, and potentially the two clubs' respective relegation battles, appeared to have been marked by two contrasting moments in the space of two minutes midway through the second half. Everton should have taken the lead through Doucouré, but instead were met with a magnificent finish from Ayew. Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone was instrumental in both.

Johnstone made a save from close range to prevent Tarkowski from finishing off a McNeil corner from close range. The rebound fell into the hands of Idrissa Gane Gueye, who shot across but got in the way of his midfield partner, who was alone at the far post. Doucouré, seemingly caught off guard, wasted a golden opportunity from four yards and the lack of power in the shot allowed Johnstone to grab the ball to safety just in front of the line.

Seconds later, the Palace goalkeeper took a goal kick into Everton territory, where Édouard headed towards Mateta. The French striker held off Branthwaite and newly introduced substitute Onana to find Ayew, who stepped forward and sent an emphatic shot into Pickford's far corner from outside the area.

Everton were facing a calamitous defeat with Calvert-Lewin turning away another good chance from a McNeil cross and Johnstone parrying James Garner's shot. However, from the resulting corner, headed in by McNeil, Onana rose above the Palace goalkeeper and headed in a vital equalizer from close range.