Richarlison helped Everton snatch a late point at home to Leicester City.
Harvey Barnes had handed the visitors an early first-half lead when he pounced on Yerry Mina’s block of a Kelechi Iheanacho shot to prod home.
But in a contest low on quality, Richarlison spared the Blues’ blushes with a deflected shot on the turn equaliser in the fifth minute of added time.
Frank Lampard’s side sit four points clear of a manager-less Burnley in the Premier League’s relegation zone ahead of their clash with Southampton.
Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:
Blues still beating the drop… just
The last time a scrappy point at home to Midlands opposition felt as euphoric as three for Everton, they had narrowly avoided Premier League relegation.
Fears of another last-gasp escape similar to that infamous 1997/98 season have come to bear in recent months as dark clouds linger over Goodison Park.
Leicester’s visit on may not go down in modern folklore just as that final day clash with Coventry City did, but its magnitude could be just as seismic.
Richarlison’s stoppage-time equaliser ensured Frank Lampard’s side racked up back-to-back unbeaten league games for the first time since early October.
More importantly, it kept the Blues out of the drop zone for a few more days at least, with Burnley now unable to overtake them before this weekend.
Prior to the stalemate with the Foxes, Lampard had only experienced either victories or losses during his opening 13 matches in charge at Goodison.
Snatching a draw from the jaws of defeat felt like a good time to break that cycle, especially with Everton’s top-flight status still teetering on the edge.
Unlikely lads help tip the balance
Lampard has been forthright about where Everton’s season went wrong, yet he is equally culpable in failing to address some of the more fixable failings.
In-game changes, both to personnel and shape, have often arrived too late and remained the case as his players toiled while the clock was ticking down.
When they arrived, however, Lampard’s switches paid off as Salomon Rondon and Dele Alli’s second-half cameos ultimately yielded a much-needed leveller.
The pair combined for Richarlison’s late strike but their impact was felt far sooner after Everton shuffled their attack to play to the Brazilian’s strengths.
Rondon offered a genuine foil for his teammate to thrive off after he had become isolated as a lone target man in Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s absence.
Meanwhile Alli’s contribution saw him surge down the right flank and feed the Venezuelan, who allowed the ball to run in behind for Richarlison to strike.
Lampard’s willingness to harness even the most maligned figures in his squad clearly has merits; he just needs to learn how and when to best utilise them.
Alarm bells ringing for derby day
Evertonian expectations for Sunday’s Merseyside derby are at an all-time low.
One victory at Anfield in 22 years tells its own story before dissecting the run of form that the respective teams are in ahead of their latest, 240th meeting.
But this display, particularly in the first half, should set alarm bells ringing of what could lie ahead when coming up against a quadruple chasing Liverpool.
Leicester were allowed to move the ball about too freely in the opening 45 minutes, with Everton’s pressing reactive at best and non-existent at worst.
Anthony Gordon’s struggles to involve himself in those early stages typified the lack of fight from the squad from the sole player to embody it all season.
Although the 21-year-old reverted to a more familiar guise after the interval, that he was so uncharacteristically off-key should still set alarm bells ringing.
Jurgen Klopp’s side are unlikely to be as charitable to Everton as the man he replaced across Stanley Park proved in the opposing dugout on Wednesday.