Michy Batshuayi climbed off the bench to rescue a point for Crystal Palace and dent Everton’s hopes of securing a top-four finish.
The striker had expressed his frustration with a lack of game time since joining the Eagles on loan from Chelsea while on international duty with Belgium.
And he stated his case for regular football in emphatic fashion by equalising four minutes from time at Goodison Park when the Toffees appeared to be on their way to victory thanks to a 56th-minute effort from James Rodriguez.
Point made
A delighted Batshuayi, 27, said: “I feel good. After playing some minutes with the national team, today I play again and I scored for the team.
“It is good for me and a good point for the team, of course.
“We played well. We passed a lot, we worked a lot and we ran a lot, so it was a good Palace today. We take a good point here.”
Battling Eagles please Roy
Hodgson, who rebuked the striker for his outburst before the match, added: “We came back from 1-0 down but we had as much possession, we had as many opportunities and we had as many chances as them.
“I am pleased that we got back in it. I thought we were every bit as good as Everton.”
Did you know?
Everton have registered just one win in their last eight home league games (drawn two and lost five), after winning four of the seven before that.
Crystal Palace have suffered just one defeat in their last six Premier League games (won two and drawn three).
Everton mustered 15 shots in the game. They have only managed more in a league match this season once before, against West Brom in September (17).
Toffees ace James has been directly involved in 12 goals in 14 home games in all competitions this season (five goals and seven assists).
Everton skipper Seamus Coleman has been directly involved in three Premier League goals against Crystal Palace (including two assists this season).
Jean-Philippe Gbamin made just his third Premier League appearance for Everton — and his first in 597 days since August 2019 against Watford.
Of all players to have scored at least 15 Premier League goals, Batshuayi has netted the highest proportion of them as a substitute. Nine of his 15 strikes have come after being introduced from the bench.
Source: Livescore