A late Leighton Baines penalty snatched a point for Everton against Manchester United.
The Blues had trailed since the 42nd minute when Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s dipped effort beat an advancing Maarten Stekelenburg just before the half-time interval.
But Marouane Fellaini endured an unhappy return to his former stomping ground as he fouled Idrissa Gueye just two minutes from the end of normal time.
Baines duly stepped up to convert from 12 yards to offer Ronald Koeman’s side a rare positive after winning only one of their previous 10 games this season.
Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park…
Gana on course for greatness
Everton owe more than a debt of gratitude to director of football Steve Walsh.
Not only did they snare one of the sharpest pair of eyes in the game last summer but also the vital ingredient of Leicester City’s summer transfer shopping list.
The ailing Premier League champions had earmarked Idrissa Gueye to fill the void in the midfield which was left by a Chelsea-bound N’Golo Kante.
If ever there was a ‘sliding doors’ moment for Walsh’s former and current employers, the Senegalese midfielder’s capture has proved to be it.
From shaking off Marcos Rojo’s leniently punished two-footed lunge to winning the penalty, his no-nonsense approach has become an invaluable asset for Everton.
£7.1 million suddenly seems like a greater steal than Pogba’s £89 million fee.
Stekelenburg – more Wright than West
Comparisons between Maarten Stekelenburg and a memorable figure from Everton’s goalkeeping past grow increasingly more striking with each week that passes.
Unfortunately for the Dutch stopper, the parallels are with Richard Wright far more than they have ever been with the likes of Neville Southall or Gordon West.
Rushing out of his goal mouth in a vain attempt to prevent Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s chipped effort to open the scoring was highly reminiscent of Wright, too.
The man last seen propping up Manchester City’s squad list in the previous campaign also ventured into No Man’s Land during a high-profile encounter.
Wright’s walkabout at Anfield in the 2005 Merseyside derby with Stekelenburg’s own bout of absenteeism in this encounter were almost, eerily identical.
Everton have lined up three targets in January to help challenge the 34-year-old’s currently unassailable position. They might need all of them as things stand.
The kids may be all right after all
Ronald Koeman claimed that his aversion to blooding Everton’s young guns is due to the currently sizable gulf between under-23 level and the Premier League.
Mason Holgate, at 20, defied his manager’s logic within a 28-minute cameo.
Not only did he subdue Anthony Martial during the latter stages but also floated an inch-perfect cross that deserved better than a tame header by Enner Valencia.
Contrast his outing with take the inclusion of Tom Cleverley, who made his first Everton outing since the 5-0 thrashing by Chelsea at the beginning of last month.
His subsequent withdrawal drew the sort of cheers from the Gwladys Street end that would later greet Holgate’s composed substitute appearance.
Maybe the kids – or at least one of them – are all right after all.
Rot stopped but Blues still have work to do
Three years to the day since Bryan Oviedo ended Everton’s 21-year wait to taste victory at Old Trafford, they failed to break another, ignominious landmark.
One win in their previous nine Premier League games makes grim reading for Koeman but the signs that the crisis is abating have finally begun to show.
His programme notes had warned that it will take time to truly transform the club into ‘the Everton we are striving for’ but this was a progress of sorts.
A fatal error of judgement from his goalkeeper aside, Koeman can have little complaints about an otherwise resolute first-half showing from the Blues.
Desire has never been in question from this Everton side. Execution is a different story entirely after a toothless showing from a front line which should be guaranteeing goals.
There is still much work to do for Koeman but stopping the rot was a start.