Football news - Morgan Schneiderlin sees red as Palace and Everton play out goalless draw

Wilfried Zaha started on the bench as Crystal Palace and Everton played out a dull 0-0 draw to start their Premier League season, with the Toffees finishing the match a man down.

The Ivory Coast international had been strongly linked with a move to Goodison Park earlier in the week and so Roy Hodgson took the decision to leave Zaha on the bench from the start. This left Palace somewhat limited in their approach early on.

Indeed, Everton dominated the first half, with Gylfi Sigurdsson and Richarlison both coming close to opening the scoring. However, Andre Gomes suffered an injury just before the break and this changed the dynamic of the game.

Palace started to cause Everton problems, with Zaha coming off the bench with 25 minutes left. Moise Kean was also introduced for his Everton debut while Morgan Schneiderlin was sent off for a second yellow card offence. Despite all this, neither team could find a winner.

There was nothing surprising about the sight of Zaha on the bench when the team lineups were released. The winger had, after all, been the subject of much transfer speculation earlier in the week and might have been mentally unprepared for this match. On the basis of his performance off the bench, though, this wasn’t the case. So did Hodgson make a mistake by not starting his best player?

The Everton goalkeeper looked a little shaky from corner kicks in the first half as Crystal Palace put Christian Benteke on top of him at every opportunity, but Pickford pulled off a number of saves in the second half to earn his team a share of the points. Without him, the Toffees would have left Selhurst Park with nothing to show for opening weekend. He was the difference in the end.

Crystal Palace - Guaita 7, Ward 6, Kelly 6, Dann 7, Van Aanholt 7, Milivojevic 6, McArthur 6, Townsend 5, Meyer 7, Benteke 6, Ayew 5. Subs - Zaha 7, Wickham 5.

Everton - Pickford 8, Coleman 7, Keane 6, Mina 5, Digne 8, Schneiderlin 4, Gomes 4, Richarlison 6, Sigurdsson 7, Bernard 5, Calvert-Lewin 5. Subs - Davies 5, Kean 6, Gbamin 5.

4’ Chance for Sigurdsson! That was an opportunity for the Toffees to take an early lead. Digne whipped a cross into the box, Dann cleared, but only to Sigurdsson. His shot from 12 yards out drifts wide, though.

12’ Off the line! Benteke is back to clear from underneath his own crossbar after a smart Everton corner kick! Sigurdsson played the set piece into Richarlison, almost creating the opening goal.

46’ GOMES COMING OFF! This is a real blow for Everton. Gomes is being forced off here with what looks like a knee injury. He has been replaced by Gbamin, who makes his Toffees debut.

52’ Off the line again! Everton once again come within inches of scoring the opening goal. This time it's Van Aanholt who is back on the line to clear after Sigurdsson cleared from Digne's cross.

57’ Big chance for Palace! That should have been a goal for Crystal Palace. Ayew was one-on-one with Pickford, but the Everton goalkeeper makes the save to keep his team on level terms. Gbamin lost the ball.

65’ Zaha on! Okay, here we go. The Crystal Palace winger is coming on for the final 25 minutes against the team he wanted to sign for over the summer. This is written in the script, right? In the stars?

79’ SENT OFF! Oh dear. This has gone from bad to worse for Everton. Schneiderlin has been shown a second yellow card for a foul on Milivejovic. The Toffees have been reduced to 10 men.

Crystal Palace’s starting front three of Jordan Ayew, Christian Benteke and Andros Townsend touched the ball in the box just three times between them.