Crystal Palace beat Everton to snap three-game losing streak with Conor Gallagher bagging a brace

WHAT. A. MESS. 

What is this great football club becoming? Or, more pertinently, where are they headed?

Public dissent from your star player, falling out with another key team member and your own fans turning on you in full view for the world to see. 

Conor Gallagher celebrates after scoring his second goal against Everton on Sunday

Gallagher watches on as his effort makes its way into the top right corner in added time

The midfielder celebrates in front of the Palace faithful after wrapping up the three points

You wonder if Rafa Benitez is regretting returning to Merseyside. But what should irk the Everton boss the most is the sheer ineptitude of this performance.

The fact Richarlison threw a tantrum as he was substituted should concern Benitez.

Lucas Digne's omission for a second successive game over an alleged spat with the Spaniard should be occupying the former Liverpool boss' mind.

Supporters calling him a 'fat Spanish waiter' is, of course, unpleasant.

But all of that should pail into insignificance to how awful his team were. Too good to go down? Surely Everton are.

Yet this unravelling of an English giant should worry those in charge at Goodison. They are heading in the wrong direction, you don't need to be a football genius to recognise that. 

Gallagher opens the scoring shortly before half-timer in the Premier League showdown

The Englishman is congratulated by his team-mates after breaking the deadlock

On any other day, we'd have left Selhurst Park raving about Crystal Palace and their brilliant midfielder Conor Gallagher.

Patrick Vieira's team were relentless; Gallagher was breathless in the way he grabbed this football match by the scruff of the neck.

But Palace's excellence was almost a sideshow; Everton incompetence was the only story in town.

Signs of what was to come were visible from the outset as Palace made much of the early running, Jordan Pickford foiling Jordan Ayew and Wilfried Zaha inside the first 15 minutes.

Monday night's thrilling win over Arsenal arrived as a timely boost to a football club that is on its haunches; a reminder of what Everton should be.

The opening 45 minutes here at Selhurst Park - not so much, though Demarai Gray and Andre Gomes did at least give Palace keeper Vicente Guaita something to think about.

But as Everton finally tried to show their teeth, they shot themselves in the foot. Their comical attempts to clear the ball resulted in Gray putting the ball on a plate for Ayew, whose cross found the Gallagher.

The finish was ruthless - past Pickford in a flash. Selhurst Park erupted, Gray looked like he wanted to disappear into the south London ether.  

James Tomkins doubles Palace's lead from close range midway through the second half

Tomkins wheels away in celebration after putting his side in firm control of the game 

It was cruel on the winger, who has arguably been one of only a few players to have emerged from Everton's turgid season so far with his reputation enhanced.

Not that would have come as a crumb of comfort to Gray or his team. But if the travelling Evertonians thought this was bad; then they'd hadn't seen anything yet.

Gallagher's header from Zaha's cross flew narrowly wide as Palace continued to make all the running after the break.

By the 58th minute Benitez had seen enough; replacing Fabian Delph with Anthony Gordon and Salomon Rondon with Richarlison, much to the Brazilian's annoyance.

The former Watford forward stormed off the pitch with a thunderous look in his eye, his feelings towards Benitez's decision abundantly clear.

The Everton boss tried to play down the incident after the game, insisting his striker had sustained a minor calf injury in the first-half.

But if a picture speaks a thousand words, then Richarlison's facial expression was providing the full and unadulterated story.

Benitez didn't look best pleased with his player's reaction either, not that the prospect of a full-time ticking off from his boss appeared to carry any weight with Richarlison, who ignored his manager's attempts to quell the situation as he walked back to the bench.

Salomon Rondon  pulls one back for Everton during the second half of the match 

The fact James Tomkins was firing Palace into a 2-0 lead just four minutes later would have done little to dampen those tensions in the Everton dug-out.

Will Hughes' corner eluded everyone in a congested six yard box to leave Tomkins with the simplest task of tapping home at the back post.

Who knows, had Pickford not become so preoccupied with Ayew's presence then perhaps he'd have got over in time.

But that was neither here nor there. The camera panned to Richarlison on the Everton bench, his complexion hadn't changed. Nor had Benitez's. This was diabolical beyond Evertonians' worst nightmare.

Toffees supporters had seen enough, 'Red and white s***e' blared out of the away section of - a clear reference to Benitez's affinity with that lot across Stanley Park.

Those in charge at Everton were warned this could happen. They are surely wishing they'd heeded those warnings.

Substitute Rondon is congratulated by his team-mates after halving the deficit in London

Rondon bundled home in the 70th minute to at least provide Benitez with some 'I told you so' ammunition ahead of his chat with Richarlison.

And who knows, had Gomes and Gordon taken good chances late in the game then perhaps this story would have turned out differently.

But even if Everton had grabbed an equaliser, there'd have been no way of convincing anyone here that they deserved a point.

So when Gallagher capped yet another impressive and swashbuckling display with a beautiful curling effort from outside the box after further self-destructive contributions from Seamus Coleman and Gomes, their manager could have no complaints - unlike his team's suffering supporters.

Scroll down to see how it all unfolded with Sportsmail's live runner.