The biggest cheer of the second half at Goodison Park came as Tom Cannon was introduced with seven minutes to go. Against a team that was bottom of the table, disjointed under a new manager and which leaked chances in the manner its defence did in the first half, that is not good enough.
Bringing Cannon on was the right decision. The teen striker is a star of the future and riding the crest of a wave of form, confidence and, crucially, goals - albeit in the Under-21s. But it was a decision that showcases the problems facing Everton and Frank Lampard as they head towards 2023 knowing there is a real threat of another painful struggle against relegation.
As Lampard sought a winner in a frenetic game that neither side could control, and with Dominic Calvert-Lewin again unavailable, he had to turn to a 19-year-old bursting with talent but who had only made his senior debut in the damaging final week before the break that left the Blues just one point and one position above the bottom three. With Manchester City to come, they could enter the new year below that dotted line.
