Everton's hunt for European football took another dent after a thrilling but frantic 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
A game packed full of incident and entertainment swung the way of Everton twice, but Palace came from behind on both occasions to earn a precious point, building on the momentum gained from reaching their first ever European final on Thursday.
David Moyes will be disappointed his side let another precious lead slip after conceding a two-goal advantage in Monday's dramatic draw with Manchester City, now needing two wins from their final two fixtures to have any hope of staying in contention for Europe.
A contest that was as absorbing as it was chaotic contained four goals but somehow that still felt like a modest return from a combined 14 shots on target. James Tarkowski opened the scoring at the back post from a corner before some sloppy defending from Michael Keane allowed Ismaila Sarr to strike the equaliser.
Big chances continued to be spurned at both ends of the pitch with both teams playing so open. Maxence Lacroix was denied by Jordan Pickford, who then launched a counter to get Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall away and he drew a wonderful stop from Dean Henderson - all within the same 26-second period. A precedent had been set.
Neither side gave up their chase for more chances after the break. Everton's breakthrough arrived first, a wonderful solo goal from Beto shortly after the restart, turning Lacroix inside out. The visitors were in ascendancy, balancing their desire to attack with the need to better protect Pickford's goal.
James Garner's dipping free-kick was well saved. Dewsbury-Hall should have made more of a one-on-one with Henderson. And chaos from corners meant set-play threat was ever present. But after failing to make good on such dominance, a sting in the tail was perhaps inevitable.
Jean-Philippe Mateta arrived from the bench to level again in the 77th minute, afforded far too much space in the Everton box to slam home Tyrick Mitchell's cross. Adam Wharton also clipped the post late on. Moyes will nevertheless consider both goals avoidable, with his side now failing to win any of their last five league matches. Their bid for Europe is faltering at the crucial time.
Qualification is now painfully out of their hands.
Everton boss David Moyes:
"We gave up chances, the game probably could have been four or five each at one point. We're trying to win games at the moment but we missed some big opportunities to go 2-0 up. There were late opportunities too.
"We've been in front twice today and should have done better. We didn't quite finish it off. It's amazing that we're talking about Everton being in Europe with two games left to go and we're not out of it yet.
"That's why we see the big teams learn to deal with the pressure. The facts are there to show it. But the facts would also say that we've probably not been able to handle bits of it. We have to try and do that better but we've not been in this position for a long time."
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner:
"I'm pleased with the performance, especially second half. For the last 30 minutes it felt like Everton had to play three days ago and we made so much pressure, created chances. We missed a few.
"We always know that Everton can be dangerous. But I'm really proud with the team's effort today, the belief we had, and also on the mentality to play for a win.
"I think it was a huge performance today."
