Everton left it late to salvage a point against Tottenham Hotspur.
Richarlison returned to haunt his old club in the fourth minute by meeting Destiny Udogie’s cross from the right-hand side with a first-time finish.
Jack Harrison levelled for Sean Dyche’s side on the half-hour mark with the final touch on a close-range header from Dominic Calvert-Lewin at a corner.
Shortly before half time, Richarlison restored for the visitors’ advantage as he beat Jordan Pickford with a curling attempt from the edge of the penalty area.
But the Blues rallied and reaped their reward deep in second-half added time as Jarrad Branthwaite pounced on a loose ball to head home at the far post.
Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:
DCL’s rotten luck continues
A 200th Everton appearance felt like the perfect occasion for Dominic Calvert-Lewin to finally banish his recent drought in front of goal – and briefly, he did.
The England international headed into Spurs’ visit on the back of 16 games without finding the target after his trademark prowess gave way to profligacy.
Sean Dyche’s logic that the odds are increasingly stacked in Calvert-Lewin’s favour with each game that extends the hoodoo proved to eerily prophetic.
Everton’s No.9 appeared in the mood to right the wrongs since he last hit the target against West Ham on 29 October; regularly appearing a potent threat.
That persistence appeared to have finally paid dividends, too, when James Tarkowski nodded Dwight McNeil’s corner back across goal from the far post.
Calvert-Lewin’s stooped header to meet the defender’s tee-up was plucked from the goal poacher’s playbook to beat Guglielmo Vicario comfortably.
His moment of catharsis, however, was short-lived as the first-half leveller was credited to Jack Harrison, whose final touch was seen as a decisive one.
It was symptomatic of the Sheffield native’s luck that even when he did all the right things, fates still managed to find a way of conspiring against him.
Another case of the ex
Richarlison’s first return to Goodison was always likely to be an emotive affair.
His initial departure mere weeks after helping preserve Everton’s Premier League status at the end of 2021/22 is still sorely felt among some fans.
Injury had sidelined him for last April’s meeting with Dyche’s relegation-threatened charges but sentiment was put on hold for Saturday’s rematch.
The Brazilian clearly still retains a degree of affection for his former employers after refusing to celebrate on both occasions he found the target in this game.
Opening the scoring with a well taken first-time hit in front of the Gwladys Street End, he took the unusual step of bowing to home fans in apology.
Awkward though that may have been, it was matched by Richarlison receiving warm applause from those Evertonians watching from the famous terrace.
It mirrored a similarly surreal scene in 2016 when Steven Naismith scored for Norwich in a Carabao Cup third-round tie that ended Everton’s involvement.
Sentiment was in shorter supply when Richarlison doubled his tally later in the first half but Goodison seems to have form when it comes to a case of the ex.
Goodison ire refuses to go away
Everton’s appeal against their 10-point deduction concluded on Friday but there is no sign that the fury of the initial punishment will soon dissipate.
Laurence Rabinowitz KC, billed as a ‘super silk’ in legal circles, fought the club’s case and was a corporate guest at Goodison for Saturday’s encounter.
Were it required, he received a crash course of Evertonians’ ongoing ire towards the Premier League from the moment the teams entered the pitch.
The league’s ‘anthem’ was roundly booed and accompanied by a mass display of yellow placards declaring ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’.
They resurfaced in the 10th minute, again en masse, before sporadically being waved when a series of contentious decisions went against their side.
When Michael Oliver issued Dyche with a booking for remonstrating about a penalty call for a foul on Beto, the invective was stepped up several notches.
Even if top-flight chiefs agree to Everton’s appeal and hand back any of the points they were docked in November, this depth of feeling will not change.
The die has been cast and the Goodison faithful is definitely not for turning.