Half-Time Report: Jason Puncheon puts Crystal Palace ahead

A goal from Jason Puncheon has given Crystal Palace a 1-0 lead over Everton at Goodison Park in the Premier League this evening.

The home side came close to opening the scoring just a couple of minutes in when Gareth Barry tried to head in from an early corner, but his effort went just over.

Everton continued to look the stronger of the two sides in the opening 20 minutes, with Ross Barkley and Aidan McGeady both seeing plenty of the ball, but they were unable to break the deadlock.

Palace started to find their way into the match though, and were able to force a lead when Puncheon fired in the rebound after Tim Howard denied Yannick Bolasie.

The visitors came within inches of adding a second, but Bolasie's strike was denied by the post, before Howard eventually gathered from Jerome's rebounded effort.

Romelu Lukaku had a chance to level just before the break, but the on-loan striker's shot was kept out by a Julian Speroni save.