Crystal Palace made sure of Premier League football late in the season just ended, in time to focus on the FA Cup final showdown against Manchester United.

The Londoners gave a good account of themselves at Wembley but their bold effort was not enough to deny United who only lifted the cup after scoring the winner in extra-time.

Palace started the 2015-16 campaign on a wave of optimism as they won three of their first four games.

Narrow defeats to Manchester City and Tottenham followed, but there were more highlights to come. The Eagles claimed a 2-1 win at Liverpool and thumped Newcastle 5-1 at Selhurst Park at the end of November.

At Christmas, only an inferior goal difference to Manchester United and Tottenham was keeping Alan Pardew’s Palace out of the top four. Yet, in the second half of the campaign, Palace lost that early sparkle and there were times when the side was flirting with relegation.

Everton, having lost 13 league matches, finished in a disappointing 11th place. Their poor show cost manager Roberto Martinez his place at Goodison Park.

The Spaniard had arrived in July 2013 and in his first two seasons the Toffees managed creditable sixth and fifth places.

Romelu Lukaku was again Everton’s man of the season.

In the FA Cup, Palace saw off Watford, Tottenham, Stoke City and Southampton but then lost to Manchester United in the final.

In the League Cup, the 5-1 trashing at Manchester City in the fourth round left Pardew fuming.

Everton succumbed to Manchester City 3-4 on aggregate in the League Cup semi-finals.

On the way to the last four in the FA Cup, the Toffees defeated Chelsea at home in the quarter-finals.