Romelu Lukaku's goal inside the first two minutes proved to be enough for Everton to see off Crystal Palace 1-0 at Selhurst Park this afternoon.

The Belgian forward did not know a great deal about the close-range finish, which came about after Steven Naismith's cross into the box was parried directly into his path by Julian Speroni.

Palace looked lively for the remainder of the first half, but they were unable to create any real chances of note following the restart as the Toffees picked up a first win in nine outings.

Here, Sports Mole takes a look back at how the 90 minutes of action unfolded in London.

Match statistics

CRYSTAL PALACE
Shots: 8
On target: 3
Possession: 54%
Corners: 6
Fouls: 12

EVERTON
Shots: 9
On target: 2
Possession: 46%
Corners: 1
Fouls: 14

Was the result fair?

This may have been far from a Premier League classic, but that will matter little to Everton, who picked up a much-needed win. Palace will feel aggrieved not to have taken anything from the game, not least following the concession of what can only be described as a rather unfortunate goal early on.

The second half was rather poor from the home side's perspective, and just three shots on goal across the duration of the contest, despite chasing one since the second minute, paints a pretty relevant picture. No side has recovered more points from losing positions than the Eagles this season which, added to the fact that Alan Pardew has become the master of turning around defeats during his short time at Selhurst Park, looked to have set up an interesting match following the early setback.

That was far from the truth, however, and Everton's defensive resilience ensured that they picked up just a fifth clean sheet of the season.

Crystal Palace's performance

Palace have been impressive in their recent meetings with today's opponents, winning both games at Goodison Park 3-2, although they have still yet to complete a top-flight double over the Toffees following this largely disappointing performance. Pardew had won all four of his previous games in charge of the club coming into this one, and, having named an attacking lineup from the start, he could clearly sense Everton blood.

Despite conceding early on, Palace still looked promising when they pushed forward, seeing a shot saved off the line and another goal-bound effort cleared away. However, once Marouane Chamakh left the field through injury, things appeared to change. Jordon Mutch was introduced for his Eagles debut, but he was unable to add the drive needed through midfield and the team was perhaps a little disjointed, with forwards shoved into wide positions. Not even Wilfried Zaha's introduction in the second half could help them wrestle back any sort of momentum, and now Pardew and company will be looking nervously over their shoulders again, with a big meeting against Leicester City to come next weekend.

Everton's performance

The relief at the end of the game was clear to see on each and every one of the Everton faces, as they not only picked up a rare clean sheet but also a first win in nine outings. The negative statistics had been piling up beforehand - no win in six in the Premier League, two points picked up from a possible 18, lowest points tally at this stage of a season since 2001 - yet Roberto Martinez saw his side do just about enough to come out on top in the end.

This was far from the Blues at their free-flowing best, but, after taking an early lead, they managed to dig in deep to deny their opponents when they did create rare openings in the attacking third. The scoreline would perhaps have been even greater, with a couple of half-chances going begging, but having just picked up a first away win in three months, Martinez will just be happy to get some points on the board. Perhaps last week's mini mid-season break to Doha could act as a springboard to push on, with Liverpool and Chelsea up next in the league.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Phil Jagielka: Palace did not exactly create a great deal of note, but when they did press forward and get balls into the box, Jagielka was more often than not the man on hand to clear away the danger. Nobody will be more delighted with this rare clean sheet than him.

Biggest gaffe

It is never easy to bounce back when falling behind to an early goal, but Palace still had the best part of 88 minutes - plus a large chunk of added time - to find a response. That they had just three shots on goal in the remainder of the game says a lot. Following a run of 12 goals in four games under Pardew, Palace supporters will be hoping that this blank is an anomaly rather than the norm in future matches.

Referee performance

Roger East had very little to do in terms of calling major decisions, and it was not until 10 minutes from time that he had to reach into his pocket for the first time.

What next?

Crystal Palace: All of a sudden, sitting four points above the drop zone as they did before kickoff, their season is still very much in the balance. Next week's meeting at Leicester will tell us a lot more about their realistic prospects for this season.

Everton: The Toffees have the small matter of a Merseyside derby to look forward to as Liverpool travel to Goodison Park next weekend.