Albion had to settle for a third successive Premier League draw on a frustrating afternoon at Goodison Park.
Vitalii Mykolenko’s seventh minute goal, which took a big deflection off Lewis Dunk, gave the hosts something to defend and they did it doggedly for long spells.
Albion’s skipper twice thought he’d equalised only to see his half-volley ruled out for offside by VAR before a second-half free kick brought out the best in Jordan Pickford.
But Albion’s territorial dominance was finally rewarded with six minutes to go when Kaoru Mitoma, who got better as the game wore on, saw his cross sliced into his own net by Ashley Young.
Five changes from the 1-1 draw against Fulham saw Bart Verbruggen, Jan Paul van Hecke, James Milner, Billy Gilmour and Joel Veltman come into the side.
Everton, with five wins in their last seven games, had an early chance. James Milner headed Dwight McNeil’s cross straight to Abdoulaye Doucoure whose volley was parried away by Verbruggen.
But the hosts did go in front on seven minutes. McNeill’s cross found Mykolenko 10 yards out and although his first strike was blocked the rebound fell to the Ukrainian, whose shot flew into the roof of the net after taking a hefty deflection off Dunk.
It was a blow for Albion, who had seen plenty of the ball in the early stages and Dunk thought he’d levelled on 14 minutes but was marginally offside when he met Pascal Gross’s free kick with a superb left foot volley that went in off the underside of the bar before VAR ruled that Evan Ferguson was offside, despite not interfering with play.
It wasn’t the skipper’s day. A foul on Dominic Calvert-Lewin earned him a booking but Albion avoided further punishment when James Garner curled the free kick from the edge of the D over the crossbar.
Albion continued to dominate possession in the first half with Everton happy to settle into a mid block and counter. By half-time the visitors had enjoyed 84% of the ball without testing Pickford. That figure dipped to 80% in the second period when Pickford was much more in the game.
Joao replaced Lallana at the break and after the cat and mouse of the first half the tempo picked up. On 54 minutes Dunk’s free-kick from the edge of the D which was heading for the top corner until Pickford flipped it over the bar, but despite continued to hog possession Albion were struggling to break down Everton.
Mitoma nearly unlocked the door with a mesmerising run, but Evan Ferguson and Joao got in the way when they tried to convert his pull-back and when the ball ran loose to Gross he skied his shot from 15 yards. James Tarkowski then produced a fine block when Joao turned and shot from eight yards.
Home fans were living on their nerves going into the closing stages. McNeill drove a shot into the side netting but it was a rare moment of alarm for Verbruggen.
Albion pushed and pushed and with six minutes to go they finally broke through. Mahmoud Dahoud’s pass found Mitoma left Jack Harrison in his wake on the left and his cross took a big deflection off Ashley Young and flew over the helpless Pickford. Mitoma delightedly took the acclaim in front of the Albion fans.
Verbruggen comfortably held a header from Dominic Calvert-Lewin during a spell of late Everton pressure but a point was the least Albion deserved.
Albion: Verbruggen, Veltman, Dunk, van Hecke, Milner (Buonanotte 79), Gross, Gilmour (Dahoud 67), Mitoma, Adingra (Igor Julio 90), Lallana (Joao Pedro 45), Ferguson (Fati 67). Subs: Steele, Hinshelwood, Webster, Baleba.
Referee: Tim Robinson
Attendance: 38,683 (2,588 Albion fans)