End to end action, late goals and another Premier League encounter that kept punters guessing until the very last minute - Everton and West Ham have continually flattered to decieve this season, but with their efforts combined, the pair managed to make a technically deficient 2-2 draw read like an on-paper world beater.
Despite David Moyes fielding an unchanged eleven from the one which walked out at Anfield last Sunday, this game signalled change for the Blues.
The post Pienaar era won't be one marked in club history, but the South African's departure added to the absence of Yakubu, Tim Cahill, and the injuries to Saha and Jagielka, giving Everton squad a definite threadbare feel.
The spotlight now fell on a team full of too many players who still had a "one for the future" tag hanging around their heads.
And that exposure laid bare the naiveties of players like Beckford, Anichebe and especially Seamus Coleman who was criminally caught out for The Irons' opener on 26 minutes.
Luis Boa Morte's best days might now be behind him, but experience told the wide man to drift into space created by the onrushing youngster, and when the Hammers broke from a botched Everton attack they utilised the vacant left flank to deadly effect.
Boa Morte reached the byline unchallenged and as Everton's back line scrambled to recover, the Portuguese dragged back the simplest of balls for Jonathan Spector to rifle home West Ham's opener.
That goal should have spurred the home team into action, but it was West Ham instead who tried to build on their lead.
Frederic Piquionne, who looked a threat throughout for the Hammers, saw a header rattle off Tim Howard's post and roll agonisingly across the goal line just before half time.
David Moyes initial response to his side's first half woes was to replace Jermaine Beckford with a half-fit Louis Saha and though Everton looked better for that change, it was the second substitution which finally brought Goodison to its feet.
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov would have reason to feel hard done by in seeing his name not on the team sheet this morning. With a Pienaar-shaped hole to fill, most inside Goodison expected to see the Russian get a final chance to prove his Premier League credentials.
But the bench has obviously become a comfortable place for Bilyaletdinov to play from and he made an almost immediate impact on the game after his 68th minute introduction.
Marouane Fellaini knocked down a deep Phil Neville cross to the Russian executed a technically superb volley - sending the ball flying into Rob Green's bottom corner and giving the Blues a platform for three points.
But with Goodison in raptures and the Everton attacking vehicle having finally found its engine, David Moyes' grand designs were dealt another hammer blow.
Frederic Piquionne, rumoured to have been a one-time target of the Toffees, rose to meet a sublime Wayne Bridge cross with a glancing header into the top corner in the 84th minute.
That goal, looked for all the world looked a winner and it sent the Frenchman wheeling away in a celebration which ended in the first row of the travelling Hammers.
With a shrug of the shoulders, referee Peter Walton issued Piquionne with his second yellow having already booked the player just minutes earlier for an untidy challenge and the striker's elation was cut short with his sending-off.
Moyes seized on the extra man advantage introducing Jack Rodwell to the action, a change which would be instrumental in the game's final act.
Rodwell's bandy-legged ability to win back posession saw Everton on their way to one last attack in the four added-on minutes.
Leon Osman picked up posession wide on the left and floated a gentle ball into the box where Rodwell, who had made a late surge, rose for the knock down.
Marouane Fellaini, in a makeshift striking role, found a spare yard in the packed penalty area to drive home a dramatic equaliser, splitting the points and sparing Evertonians the pain of what would have been their worst home loss yet this campaign.
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Everton (4-4-2): Howard, Neville (Rodwell 86), Distin, Heitinga, Baines, Arteta, Fellaini, Osman, Coleman, Anichebe (Bilyaletdinov 68), Beckford (Saha 46).
Subs: Mucha, Hibbert, Jagielka, Bilyaletdinov, Saha, Gueye, Rodwell
West Ham (4-5-1): Green, Tomkins, Upson, Tomkins, Faubert, Spector, Bridge, Noble, Hines (Sears 81 (Reid 90), Piquionne, Boa Morte.
Subs: Boffin, Reid, Gabbidon, McCarthy, Sears, Barrera, Nouble.
Yellow: Parker, Fellaini, Piquionne
Red: Piquionne
Goals: Bilyaletdinov 77, Fellaini 90+1, Spector 26, Piquionne 84
Ref: P Walton
Att: 34,179
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