Everton preserved their unbeaten run in a late draw with Fulham.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin saw a potential first-half opener disallowed for offside after he pounced on Idrissa Gueye’s long-range strike hitting the crossbar.
Alex Iwobi returned to haunt his former employers on the hour mark after being teed up for a shot just inside the penalty area to beat Jordan Pickford.
But deep into four minutes’ added time, substitute Beto salvaged a point for Sean Dyche’s by meeting Ashley Young’s cross with a close-range header.
The Blues have now extended their cushion from the Premier League’s relegation zone to six points after a fifth consecutive game without defeat.
Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:
Dyche continues to ride his luck
He may not feel like it but Sean Dyche remains the luckiest manager around.
No matter how heavily the odds are stacked against his Everton reign, fortune somehow manages to favour the former defender in just the right moments.
Saturday’s visit of Fulham threatened to condemn Dyche’s side to an end of a four-game unbeaten run which had provided their season with a belated uplift.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s disallowed opener notwithstanding, little in the Blues’ general approach suggested they would taste anything other than defeat.
They were second-best for large parts of the Goodison Park encounter and duly punished when Alex Iwobi returned to haunt his former employers.
Taking retrograde steps following incremental progress has become a worryingly recurring theme in Dyche’s 21 months at the helm on Merseyside.
And yet, he was able to pull off yet another Houdini trick deep into second half added time to maintain Everton’s slow ascent towards Premier League safety.
It will invariably run out at some stage but Dyche lives to fight another day.
Beto rewarded with redemption
Evertonians love a good underdog story and have seen plenty down the years.
For every mercurial figure that graces the royal blue shirt, one of their much-maligned teammates finds their inner strength to earn a spell in the spotlight.
Beto’s time to shine felt like it might never come around after he became an increasingly peripheral figure in the front line since last summer’s arrival.
A January return to his former Serie A domicile appeared a distinct possibility after his agent admitted the statuesque forward had fallen out of favour.
But the Portuguese-born marksman, who recently switched his international allegiances to Guinea-Bissau, grasped his opportunity in memorable style.
His introduction in place of an injured Dwight McNeil felt like a last throw of the dice by Dyche as he partnered Michael Keane in an unorthodox attack.
By the 94th minute, however, Beto’s hard yards reaped redemption with a true striker’s finish by powering home the previously inconceivable equaliser.
No one inside Goodison begrudged the 26-year-old’s overcome reaction at the final whistle, pulling his shirt over his head to hide his raw emotions.
A moment like this has been a long time coming.
‘Under the lights’ novelty wearing off
Goodison’s final season was always likely to see its rustic charm enhanced.
There are few better sights in English football than the Grand Old Lady at its best beneath the floodlights, typified during last season’s Merseyside derby.
It is why broadcasters will be scrambling to pencil in as many night games between now and May to capture the famous old stadium’s dying embers.
But the novelty is in danger of being overplayed as the clock ticks down.
Everton’s two recent home fixtures have underlined that simply scheduling matches ‘under the lights’ is not a ready-made ingredient for entertainment.
The visit of Newcastle earlier this month was too cagey for comfort while Beto’s late show prevented another underwhelming affair against Fulham.
Sliding-doors moments in both are unlikely to see them go down among Goodison’s finer fixtures over the course of this season, let alone all-time.
Schedulers would do well to bear that in mind when deciding their next round of television picks for February’s games to avoid further disappointment.