Solomon Kalou came off the bench to rescue Chelsea from the jaws of defeat this afternoon at Goodison Park as a much improved second half saw Everton come close to victory.
It was a second half which Everton thoroughly dominated and should have seen them book their place in the fifth round of the F.A Cup at the hands of the holders.
The first half, however, was somewhat forgettable and many viewers would have been excused for taking an afternoon nap.
Both teams cancelled each other out with the tempo too slow to spark a reserved Everton crowd into life- the Chelsea fans joking "You're supposed to be at home!"
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov had a chance to remedy this in the 14th minute but he failed to properly connect with the ball after Jack Rodwell's flick on from Phil Neville's throw into the box. Nipping in ahead of Jose Bosingwa, the Russian international could only tamely divert the ball straight to Petr Cech when on the stretch in the six yard box.
The first real chance of the half fell to Jack Rodwell after being played in on goal by Louis Saha following superb harrying by Marouane Fellaini to win the ball in a dangerous area.
Fellaini's pressure and eventual tackle on Michael Essien saw the ball end up at Saha's feet and the Frenchman slid the ball to Rodwell who, running slightly away from goal and under pressure from a Chelsea defender, could only direct his low shot straight at Cech.
At this point, Phil Neville had already been warned by a lenient Howard Webb - who distributed no cards in the game - about two previous tackles on Florent Malouda and the Everton captain was relatively fortuitous not to be cautioned when in the 29th minute he showed Malouda that he was in for a tough afternoon.
This was to the evident amusement of Gary Neville as the cameras showed him produce a broad smile at his brother's antics.
Shortly after came Chelsea's best moment of the half as Nicolas Anelka surged towards goal following a Ramires pass. Anelka advanced with the ball into the box and unleased a low drive, which, fortunately for Everton was straight at a grateful Tim Howard who diverted the ball behind with his legs.
To the second half and Everton came out of the blocks much quicker, setting the tone for the rest of the game.
In the 52nd minute it was they who nearly made the breakthrough as Saha found space at the back post to acrobatically volley Jack Rodwell's cross goalwards, only to be denied by a timely block from Ramires.
Yet Everton weren't discouraged by this, only spurred on as they pushed for the opening goal which nearly came in the 55th minute when Fellaini headed an inswinging Arteta free kick powerfully at Petr Cech who tipped the ball over the bar.
Everton were rewarded for their efforts in the 62nd minute as Louis Saha headed in his seventh goal in eight games against Chelsea from Leighton Baines' irresistable corner.
Being closely watched by John Terry, Saha flummoxed the Chelsea captain after some good movement and rose to plant the ball past Cech and give Everton an unarguably deserved lead.
Louis Saha powers home a header to give Everton the lead in front of the Gwladys Street.
The Toffees surged forward in search of another with Jack Rodwell and Marouane Fellaini dictating the play but they were aided by the unusually subdued Michael Essien and Frank Lampard.
Everton went agonisingly close to doubling their lead when Seamus Coleman was twice denied, firstly by a smart low save from Cech following his powerful header, and secondly by a wonder block from Michael Essien as he lashed towards goal following Cech's rebound.
And they were left to rue that miss when just 18 seconds later, Chelsea broke with devastating ruthlessness and conjured up an equaliser out of nothing.
Jack Rodwell was caught in possession following the corner and the ball was worked over to the right hand side for the substitute Kalou to jink into the box and expertly roll the ball through Sylvain Distin's legs and inside Howard's far post.
Solomon Kalou strikes after a ruthless counter attack to give Chelsea an undeserved equaliser.
Yet despite some Evertonian's fears that Chelsea would go on to win the game, it was the Toffees who went closest to snatching a victory in the 89th minute through substitute Jermaine Beckford.
Branislav Ivanovic sliced his clearance to allow Beckford in on goal and, taking the shot on first time, the forward unleashed a delicious left footed volley which Cech tipped over the bar superbly to spare Chelsea's blushes.
Everton will feel aggrieved that they didn't advance to the next round at the first time of asking but there are plenty of positives for David Moyes and the Evertonians to take from this performance ahead of what will be an eagerly anticipated trip to Stamford Bridge for the replay.
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