Aston Villa failed to pull away from the relegation zone as Everton grabbed a late goal to draw 2-2 at Goodison Park.
Villa began the day just one point above the relegation zone and they almost made a disastrous start when Kyle Walker’s poor header back played in Jermaine Beckford, but Brad Friedel came to his defender’s rescue with a good stop.
However, Everton did break the deadlock seven minutes before half-time when Diniyar Bilyaletdinov stole the ball from Walker before feeding Leon Osman, and the midfielder eased past some poor challenges before prodding the ball past Friedel.
Villa responded and were back on level terms two minutes after the restart when Stewart Downing crossed for Darren Bent to slam home.
Fortune favoured them when Beckford’s shot struck the bar and bounced down and away from goal, and they took advantage by going in front when Ashley Young flicked on a Friedel clearance and Bent clinically scored his second goal of the game.
But just as Villa looked like they had claimed three much-needed points, Phil Jagielka was fouled by Jean Makoun and Leighton Baines rifled home Everton’s equaliser.