Everton moved a point clear of the Premier League relegation zone as they battled to a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Aston Villa at Goodison Park.
And while the Toffees' winless streak stretched to six matches in all competitions, they had a golden chance to claim all three points that Dominic Calvert-Lewin failed to take - while both sides had goals disallowed for offside. Yet Sean Dyche will likely be satisfied with a share of the spoils in the grand scheme of their survival fight.
Everton mustered the first chance of the game in the fifth minute when Jack Harrison's cross picked out Arnaut Danjuma at the back post but he got his volley all wrong before Vitalii Mykolenko crashed an effort well off target.
On 13 minutes, Toffees keeper was forced into a decent save when thwarting Ollie Watkins' angled shot. Villa then thought they'd opened the scoring in the 18th minute when Alex Moreno fired home beyond Pickford from outside the box. But after a lengthy VAR check, the goal was disallowed as Leon Bailey was offside in the build-up.
Pickford was then forced into another fine stop when he turned Bailey's shot around the near post in the 28th minute. And on the stroke of half-time, Everton spurned a gilt-edged opportunity. Danjuma cleverly set Calvert-Lewin free on goal and was left one-on-one with Villa keeper Emi Martinez - and the Toffees striker was his shot kept out before James Garner was also denied by Martinez.
The second period was a stop-start affair, although John McGinn curled a shot just wide for Villa on the hour mark. Then with five minutes remaining, Everton defender Mykolenko made a huge block to deny Matty Cash before home skipper Seamus Coleman got in the way of Villa counterpart McGinn's follow-up.
With two minutes remaining, Abdoulaye Doucoure thought he'd snatched all three points for the Toffees when he burst clear and slotted beyond Martinez, although the offside flag was swiftly raised. And there was to be no late drama, with Everton hanging on for a point that they'll be happy with. Here's how we rated the Everton players.
1. Jordan Pickford - 8
Made two crucial saves in the first half and kicking was good. Fairly comfortable after the break.
2. Seamus Coleman - 7
Barely put a foot wrong defensively in the first half or after the interval.
3. James Tarkowski -
Kept busy by Watkins in the first half and nodded a corner wide. Made a couple of important challenges after the break and then a robust one on Alex Moreno that sparked a melee and saw him booked.
4. Jarrad Branthwaite -
Sound enough in the first half but got dragged out of position a couple of times in the second period and left space for Villa in behind.