From the brink to the drink inside 90 seconds and no one could have faulted Gianfranco Zola had he decided to end his days as a teetotaller today. "I'm going to get drunk," said the West Ham manager, after Araujo Ilan's outstanding header had rescued a merited point for his relegation strugglers with four minutes remaining at Everton. "Well, maybe." But bottle played its part in the Italian's recovery.
A spirited revival appeared destined to bring only a seventh consecutive defeat for West Ham when Yakubu Ayegbeni sent a towering header into Robert Green's bottom corner, and through Zola's heart, in the 84th minute at Goodison Park. But whatever the forthright co-owner, David Sullivan, thinks of his manager's team and leadership qualities, and his thoughts were made quite clear after the anaemic home defeat by Wolves, they were not found wanting here.
Lesser teams could have crumbled as Everton began to revel in the prospect of an eighth successive league win on home soil. Instead Ilan, a free transfer from St Etienne in January, threw himself at Julien Faubert's cross less than two minutes later and threw his manager a lifeline in the process.
Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United have all been vanquished during Everton's impressive home run and, while David Moyes' side dipped far below those levels, they were frustrated by fiercely committed opponents. "West Ham made it hard for us," the Everton manager admitted. But for Tim Howard's first-half penalty save from Mido, Zola might have toasted a precious victory rather than a cessation of the criticism and soul-searching he has endured of late.
Everton had hardly created an opening when dreadful defending allowed them to take the lead midway through the first half. Three times West Ham had the chance to clear Leighton Baines' deep cross from the left, and three times they messed it up. First Jonathan Spector headed the cross skywards inside his own area. Manuel Da Costa then abandoned his marker, Tim Cahill, to indulge in ball-watching and, when the Australian headed back across goal, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov stepped in front of the static Matthew Upson to glance the final header into the far corner. It was simple but, from the Hammers' perspective, indefensible, and Zola had every justification to vent his anger from the touchline.
Self-inflicted problems were not confined to their backline, either. The visitors were handed a glorious chance to level when Sylvain Distin was adjudged to have tripped Carlton Cole as they pursued Scott Parker's pass into the Everton penalty area.
Howard Webb, who produced another erratic refereeing display, pointed to the penalty spot but only booked the French defender, who was clearly the last man. Howard sprung low to his right to save Mido's spot-kick and became the first Everton goalkeeper since Neville Southall to save three penalties in one season.
Moyes said: "I thought it was a penalty for West Ham and on another day it would have been a sending-off as well. But saying that, we had a stonewall penalty when Da Costa caught Louis Saha in the midriff and the decision not to give us a penalty was a really poor one."
Parker and Mark Noble inspired dramatic improvement in the second half and, after the latter had struck the barwith an exquisite chip over Howard, Da Costa bundled in his corner from close range. With six minutes remainingYakubu met another Baines cross with a textbook header beyond Green but the salvation Zola has been praying for was close at hand.