*Everton and Aston Villa shared the points after a dramatic second half at Goodison Park.*

Leon Osman gave the home side a half-time lead only for Darren Bent to equalise straight after the restart.

Jermaine Beckford’s shot hit the bar but was ruled not to have crossed the line and Villa promptly went down the other end for Bent to make it 2-1.

But with Villa sensing a rare away win, Jean Makoun fouled Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines’ penalty made it 2-2.

Coming into the game on a run of three wins in their last four games, David Moyes’ men had reason to feel confident against a side with a poor away record, and their initial play demonstrated this feeling.

They took the game to the visitors, and it was a defensive mistake that handed Everton the first clear chance of the match.

Kyle Walker’s backheader to Brad Friedel was nowhere near strong enough and fell into the path of Beckford, whose first-time shot was pushed behind by the American keeper.

This near miss seemed to rouse Villa, however, as they went on the attack themselves.

Stewart Downing had already sliced his way through Everton’s left-hand flank before Ashley Young’s pass allowed Luke Young to fire in a dangerous cross from the opposite side, but fortunately for the home side there was no-one on hand to apply the killer touch.

Nigel Reo-Coker had another good chance to open the scoring when he followed up Tim Howard’s flapped clearance of a cross, but the way Tony Hibbert blocked his shot before it could get too close to the goal rather summed up the slightly stifled nature of the game so far.

Everton did find a way through before half-time, however, but even then it needed a helping hand.

Walker was caught napping near the half-way line and dispossessed by Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, who played the ball into the path of Osman.

He advanced down the left and shrugged off several half-hearted challenges before poking the ball across the goal into the bottom corner, a shot which Friedel should have been able to keep out but was unable to do so as the hosts opened the scoring.

Everton’s grip on the lead was not particularly tight and within two minutes of the restart, they had lost it.

Downing was allowed the freedom of the right wing and fired in a cross to Bent, whose first-time side-footed shot flew into the roof of the net.

This goal, combined with Everton’s tentative approach, gave Villa the feeling they could get something from the game, and when fate offered them a chance, they seized it with both hands.

Beckford smashed the ball against the bar from a central position, only for the ball to bounce down and clear of the goal without having been ruled to have gone over the line.

Everton’s protests had barely died down before they found themselves 2-1 down.

Friedel’s huge clearance was flicked on by Young into space, and Bent showed great composure to put the ball beyond the advancing Howard and into the bottom corner.

Villa could sense a precious away victory was theirs for the taking, but there was still more drama to come.

With seven minutes left, Jagielka advanced into the box and was brought down by Villa midfielder Makoun.

Baines thumped the ball home to level the scores and earn his side a point from a game where they may well have thought they deserved all three.

*Everton manager David Moyes on the “goal”:*

“It was a goal, it’s a hard call for the ref and linesman but the angle the ball came off the bar made me think it was a goal, but I’m disappointed with the way we conceded a soft goal and gave them the advantage.

“I think they had [turned off momentarily afterwards], Villa just got on with it, we didn’t get ourselves into the right positions quickly enough and found ourselves a goal down. That’s what happens against a strike force with three England internationals.

“With the team we had out today it was a marvellous result, Villa with their attacking players were always a threat but we were always in the game, we can be disappointed we didn’t take all three.”

*Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier:*

“I just regret the fact that we got back into game but with eight minutes left, had we not had the penalty incident, we would have won it.

“But I was very proud of the players, they fought very hard and were competitive, they showed great quality particularly in defending and the way we scored the two goals - I thought the second half could be turning point for our season. I think today a win would have rewarded our efforts.”