Everton and Crystal Palace have been unable to find the breakthrough in the first half at Goodison Park.

Both sides made it clear that they were eager to attack early on, and it was Palace who created the first clear chance of the night as Connor Wickham darted to the front post to reach Yannick Bolasie's cross, but Tim Howard blocked the header without knowing much about the point-blank save.

Romelu Lukaku threatened to continue his recent impressive form when he found space on the edge of the box to curl a low effort against the post with Wayne Hennessey beaten.

Much of Everton's attacking play came through Gerard Deulofeu and Ross Barkley, but Palace defended stubbornly to limit the space on offer.

Producing the correct final ball proved to be a problem for both teams throughout the first half, and chances were difficult to come by after a bright start to the contest.