The script was written and stage set for Dominic Calvert-Lewin to return to Everton and leave the fans rueing his summer exit.
But on his Merseyside comeback in a Leeds shirt, it was instead David Moyes’s new striker who had the last laugh as Thierno Barry scored a 76th-minute equaliser to give his team a battling point.
The summer recruit had a slow start to life in England after a £27million move from Villarreal, at least in terms of tangible returns with zero goals in his first 16 appearances.
Fast forward a month, though, and the 23-year-old is one of the division’s in-form players, this his fourth strike in his last five league games.
Indeed, he has now scored with five of his last 10 shots and, since December, only Ollie Watkins, Erling Haaland and Calvert-Lewin have more in the league.
‘I am really pleased for Thierno,’ said Moyes. ‘There are a lot of strikers in the league who cost a lot of money and it is not easy for them either.
Thierno Barry equalised for the Toffees after 76 minutes to give them a 1-1 draw against Leeds
James Justin opened the scoring for Leeds after an impressive counter-attack in the first half
Dominic Calvert-Lewin returned to face Everton for the first time since leaving and hit the post
‘We have not created a lot of chances recently so he has needed to take what he can. He is a young French U21 international finding his way, his English was OK but not great, he is now starting to settle.’
How Moyes needed the Frenchman’s instinctive strike here to give them a draw on a night that no one of a blue persuasion could have had reason to grumble if they left with nothing.
Leeds raced ahead through James Justin after a sweeping counter-attack and could have put the game to bed when Calvert-Lewin hit the post minutes later.
Daniel Farke’s team barely broke a sweat in a first hour that saw Everton fail to muster a single shot on target.
The away team might have shaken hands on a draw before the match but would have travelled back along the M62 knowing it really could have been three.
‘Overall, it is a really good result here for us on the road,’ said Farke, whose side are now six clear of the drop zone. ‘Our first half was outstanding, one of our very best away performances.’
A victory, though, would have taken them level on points with Tottenham and Crystal Palace — more importantly, they would have been eight clear of the drop zone.
As it was, it ended as a costly weekend given relegation rivals West Ham and Nottingham Forest both won but Farke will take solace knowing his side have still only lost just once since November.
Daniel Farke’s men had barely broken a sweat for around 60 minutes at Hill Dickinson Stadium
Everton boss David Moyes praised Barry after the Frenchman rescued a draw for his side
An away point is never to be sniffed at as a newly-promoted club, though, and this performance is another to add to a list of solid outings in a prosperous winter for Farke that has seen them beat Chelsea, thrash Crystal Palace, draw with Liverpool (twice) and Manchester United.
Everton feared being made to miss Calvert-Lewin, who made 274 appearances for the club, early on but were left cursing another one that got away when Justin poked Leeds ahead.
The one-cap England full back was offered to Everton last summer before instead joining the Elland Road club from Leicester.
The wing-back was on the half-way line when he started a run, not tracked by Dwight McNeil, but soon got on the end of a cross from Anton Stach.
Justin finished confidently with his left foot and wheeled away in celebration. Moyes, meanwhile, was left simultaneously berating a foul on Iliman Ndiaye in the build-up and his team’s defensive deficiencies as Leeds picked them apart at ease.
A similar move nearly put the away side two up minutes later as Jayden Bogle, an effervescent threat down the right flank, put a teasing cross into the path of Calvert-Lewin. The striker got across his man but was stretching for the ball and could only poke it on to the post.
Boos were heard at half-time, amplified by the harsh gusts of wind blowing in from the banks of the Mersey, and Everton made a double-change to introduce Jarrad Branthwaite, his first outing of the season after a nasty injury, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
But it was two other returning stars who helped change the game, the Senegalese duo back after five weeks away at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Idrissa Gana Gueye was at the heart of all things good for Everton after returning from AFCON
They often call Everton the School of Science but no sport scientist would prescribe a month without days off in an international camp followed by a week of partying as preparation for a Premier League game.
Idrissa Gana Gueye and Ndiaye, who had been on open-top buses and trophy parades in Dakar after winning that mad AFCON final, belied predictions that they might be tired and returned in style for Moyes.
The pair combined for Everton’s first real chance, blocked well by Sebastiaan Bornauw, and soon Leeds keeper Karl Darlow was finally forced to earn his keep, denying Barry’s outside-of-the-foot curler and then Gueye’s shot from distance.
But Darlow was soon helpless as Gueye’s inventive run and cross picked out Barry for a clever finish after getting across his man well. It was a top-class second half for Gueye who, even at 36, is a crucial cog of Moyes’s machine.
Only taking a point might seem a missed opportunity for the Toffees who could have climbed to three points off the top four with a win.
But in their first match of many without star man Jack Grealish, they lacked creativity for too long and a draw felt like a fair result for both teams.
‘Everton are a top, well-managed side with so much quality on the bench,’ added Farke. ‘It was not to be and we have to respect their quality, take the point and move on.’
