Everton's hopes of retaining their ever-present Premier League status were handed a marginal boost as the Blues came from behind to secure a hard-fought 2-2 draw with fellow strugglers Leicester City on Monday night.
In a compelling encounter at the King Power Stadium, the Blues led with just 15 minutes on the clock when Dominic Calvert-Lewin converted a penalty that had been awarded after he was bundled to the ground by Foxes' defender Timothy Castagne.
However, the home side turned the game on its head shortly before half-time when Caglar Soyuncu levelled with a coolly-taken volley from close range before legendary talisman Jamie Vardy rounded Jordan Pickford with ease to complete the turnaround. Leicester had the opportunity to extend their lead further when Michael Keane was penalised for a handball, but Pickford was equal to the spot-kick of England team-mate James Maddison.
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After the interval, Alex Iwobi pulled Sean Dyche's side level when he kept his nerve to convert Dwight McNeil's cross at the back post past the impressive Daniel Iversen, who had been in inspired form all night long.
The result keeps the Blues in 19th place in the Premier League, but how Dyche watched his side draw level and later push for a winner in the second half will surely be a cause for optimism between now and now the end of the season.
Here's how the national media reacted to the draw.
"The stakes are only about to get higher" - Ben Fisher, the Guardian
"It felt somewhat fitting that Jordan Pickford reached for a poker analogy after this frenetic, see-sawing and at times ludicrous 101 minutes.
"Pickford revealed his first-half penalty save from James Maddison, to prevent Leicester racing into a 3-1 lead against Everton on the verge of half-time, was the fruit of a double bluff with mind games at play from 12 yards. The stakes are only about to get higher.
"The good news for these teams is that both showed they are very much alive in what is an agonising fight for Premier League survival. The bad news? These players – and their supporters – face another four weeks of unspeakable torment, twists and turns. This point means Leicester’s fate – just about – remains in their hands. Leicester, Leeds and Nottingham Forest are locked on 30 points. Everton stay 19th, a point behind that trio.
"At the final whistle, Jamie Vardy was on his haunches, Caglar Soyuncu lay prone on the grass and Alex Iwobi, who ultimately earned Everton a point, sat with his hands clasped over his knees.
"A few minutes before the interval, the Everton captain Séamus Coleman was carried off on a stretcher by ambulance staff with a serious knee injury. If the players were exhausted, the fans had also been put through the wringer."
"There is still hope in the air" - John Percy, the Telegraph
"Everton remain stuck in the relegation swamp after another season of ineptitude, but the prospect of a second successive “Great Escape” in 12 months is still alive.
"Last season they left it until the penultimate game of the season to secure their Premier League future, and Sean Dyche would happily accept such a scenario this month.
"Finally, there was some encouragement for Everton’s manager after his players produced the type of battling performance required to save their skins on a night of pure chaos at the King Power Stadium.
"Everton are still beneath the dreaded dotted line, and have won just two of their last 34 away games in the Premier League but, remarkably, there is still hope in the air.
"Here they produced 23 efforts on goal, while also displaying their fighting spirit and recovering from the alarming sight of defender Seamus Coleman being stretchered off late in the first half with a serious knee injury.
"The pivotal moment came nine minutes into added time of the first-half, when a poor penalty from James Maddison was saved by Jordan Pickford. The goalkeeper’s water bottle included notes on Leicester’s penalty takers but Maddison’s penalty was so weak that research was barely required."
"Everton are stuck in a rut" - Shamoon Hafez, BBC Sport
"Like their opponents, Everton are stuck in a rut. Despite a bright start the Toffees have now won just one of their past 11 games under Dyche, and the eight points gained on that run have not been enough to drag them out of trouble.
"This was a significant chance to get back to winning ways and it started well through Calvert-Lewin's thumping penalty, but it is difficult to see where the points might come in their remaining games.
"They travel to impressive Brighton in their next match, before hosting league leaders Manchester City and rounding off their season at Goodison Park against in-form Bournemouth.
"In between, they face a trip to Wolves - but that too is a tough ask for a side winless in their past 15 on the road and victors in just two of 34 away league games.
"The league's lowest scorers managed to bag two this time, and Dyche will be satisfied to rescue a point, but it could have been so much better with more clinical finishing.
"Daniel Iversen made a stunning reflex save to deny Iwobi early in the first half, and the Danish goalkeeper also kept out efforts including Calvert-Lewin's shocking miss and Dwight McNeil's strike from eight yards out.
"But he saved his best until late when Everton pushed for the winner and Abdoulaye Doucoure strode forward before unleashing an arrowed low drive which Iversen turned round the post at full stretch."
"Everton had only themselves to blame" - Dominic King, Daily Mail
"Whatever work Sean Dyche had done over the weekend, after their shellacking by Newcastle, clearly worked. Everton came out swinging and hemmed Leicester into their penalty area with a succession of a balls crashed forward from Jordan Pickford, demanding the forward players to chase and fight.
"It’s no exaggeration to say Leicester looked petrified by the frenzy, unable to cope with the physicality of it all, as corners and crosses were fired in. For all the criticism they have received, Everton had to be praised for what might have been their best start to a game all season.
"Really, they should have been ahead after eight minutes. Iwobi, dashing down the right, found himself unmarked 12 yards out but he gave Daniel Iversen the opportunity to make a superb save, rather than putting his foot through it and ripping a shot into the net.
"Such was the weight of pressure building, though, you knew another opportunity would not be long in coming and so it proved. In the 14th minute, Coleman clipped a cross and Timothy Castagne short-circuited, blundering into Calvert-Lewin like someone falling out of their local at closing time.
"He tried to look shocked Michael Oliver had pointed to the spot but who was he kidding? It was the most obvious penalty you could wish to see and Calvert-Lewin stepped up to convert, scoring for the first time since last October. There were 3,000 in the away end but they made the noise of 43000.
"With their tails up, it felt like Everton could take control of matters. A level of the nervousness in the Leicester ranks was best illustrated when Caglar Soyuncu, under no pressure whatsoever, put a pass straight out of play. All Everton had to do, you felt, was stay calm.
"But it was beyond them. From being in a position they wanted after 20 minutes, they found themselves trailing by the 35th minute. You will have heard this many times before this season but, exasperatingly, they had only themselves to blame."
"Everton live to fight another day" - Joe Thomas, ECHO
"So often Everton have emerged from half time as the weaker side. On Monday night the opposite was true. Perhaps buoyed by the penalty save that represented another crucial lifeline offered to the club by England’s number one, they brought the intensity.
"Calvert-Lewin fired at Iversen and McNeil shot straight at the Leicester keeper. Then up stepped Iwobi to complete his redemption story. Iwobi, who had looked so forlorn after gifting Leicester the chance from which they took the lead, kept trying and his courage was rewarded when the ball dropped to him at the back post and he fired Everton level.
"The pendulum then swung in the home side’s favour and for 15 agonising minutes they pushed for a winner, thwarted by the bodies of Keane, James Tarkowski and others.
"Everton rode that storm though and it was the away side who finished strongest - only to be denied a priceless winner by the heroics of Iversen.
"As the players walked off at the end of the match the only noise that could drown out the away end was the PA system switched on at full blast. Everton live to fight another day."
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