A 97th minute equaliser from birthday boy Beto earned Everton a point in a 1-1 draw against Brighton at the Amex Stadium.
The Toffees arrived at the south coast with a much-changed side, as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Michael Keane and Jarrad Branthwaite all returned to the starting XI.
Before the match, manager David Moyes revealed Vitalii Mykolenko had picked up a knock in training, forcing Everton to field a back four made up entirely of centre-halves, with Nathan Patterson dropping out at right-back.
The Blues were looking for a third consecutive away win, but produced a disappointing first-half display, spending much of the opening period on the back foot.
Everton recorded a 0.00 xG as Brighton created the better chances, with striker Danny Welbeck coming closest to breaking the deadlock four minutes in when his header was saved by Jordan Pickford.
The Toffees improved after the break and showed promise when Dewsbury-Hall, making his first start since mid-December, fired narrowly wide.
A better opportunity came the midfielder’s way in the 68th minute, as a loose ball was picked up by Thierno Barry who played him in, but the close-range effort was straight at Brighton keeper Bart Verbruggen.
The missed chance proved costly, as Brighton broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute as Yasin Ayari found an unmarked Pascal Groß in the box, and the German fired the ball past Pickford on his return to the club.
The Seagulls thought they had doubled their lead in the 83rd minute through Kaoru Mitoma, but referee Chris Kavanagh flagged for offside in the build-up.
Moyes used all of his allocated subs in pursuit of an equaliser, and in the dying seconds of stoppage time his side were rewarded.
Patterson’s cross was met by Jake O’Brien, whose fizzed strike was spilled by Verbruggen, only for Beto to react quickest and tuck the ball home for his third goal of the campaign.
Speaking after the match, Moyes admired Everton’s number 9 for his perseverance during a difficult spell.
“I say it all the time…He’s a great boy and I’m really pleased the way the support treated him,” the Scot said.
“He’s had it pretty tough and he’s not been scoring…but it was at this time last season where he started to score all the goals for us, maybe (the goal) gives him the confidence he needs”.
The Everton boss was also full of praise for Jarrad Branthwaite who filled in at left-back in his first competitive start since May last year.
“I thought Jarrad done great. I knew he could fill in at left-back if we needed it.
“He’s not been fit at any point this season, so it will do him the world of good”.
The result sees Everton climb up to 8th on 34 points after their third draw in four games.
Meanwhile, the Seagulls will be disappointed to concede in additional time for the second game running, as they drop to 13th after only one win in their last 11 Premier League games.
(Featured pic by Alamy Images under agreed licence)
