Like coming home

Everton 1 Palace 0
FA Cup 3rd round replay


There's something magical about Goodison under the lights. Even on a night with the temperature at -5 C and snow on the ground.

Looking back it's been nearly 6 years since I was last in the Park End and tonight I was nearly  back in my old seat, just a few rows further forward*. It all felt so familiar, like going back home. It'll be strange when that's no longer possible.

The game itself was hardly a classic, possibly because of the freezing temperature and Everton huffed and puffed and dug in and rolled their sleeves up and ground out the victory and rode their luck, among other football clichés.
It was the kind of game that was inevitably going to be won by a mistake or a sublime bit of skill and that skill came from Andre Gomes's beautifully taken free kick just before half time and was ultimately enough to win it.
Palace did have a glorious chance to equalise right at the end but thankfully Joao Virginia kept it out. I'm not sure I'd have thawed out even by the time I got home after another 30 minutes in that cold.