Everton provided a performance full of grit and character but were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw with Leeds United in a feisty encounter at Elland Road.
Anthony Gordon’s coolly-taken strike — the first time he has netted in consecutive senior games for the Blues — gave Everton a deserved half-time lead.
Luis Sinisterra’s 20-yard strike 10 minutes into the second period ultimately earned the hosts a share of the spoils, but the Toffees had opportunities to snatch all three points with a Demarai Gray effort ruled out for a marginal offside and Amadou Onana and Nathan Patterson both going close.
Despite the frustration, the result extends Everton's unbeaten run to four games, but the search for the first league victory of the season goes on.
Manager Frank Lampard was forced into making one change from the side that started the 1-1 draw at Brentford three days earlier and it brought a formation switch with Tom Davies deployed in a three-man midfield in place of the injured Mason Holgate.
The Blues boss was dealt a blow before a ball had been kicked in Yorkshire, with Neal Maupay unavailable due to Premier League requirements, despite being registered as an Everton player on Friday afternoon.
A typically raucous Leeds United crowd — heightened by the return of Lampard, who had several hotly-contested matches against the Whites while manager of Derby County — met the visitors.
And Everton, in truth, struggled to quickly settle into the same passing rhythm they showed in the opening exchanges of their last outing against the Bees over the weekend.
This, however, was a war of attrition rather than a game for the purists.
The first blow of the contest was landed on 17 minutes when Alex Iwobi, superb at both ends of the pitch throughout again, threaded a perfect pass through Diego Llorente to find Gordon, who made no mistake in taking the ball in his stride and applying a near-identical left-footed finish to the one he provided against Brentford.
That was the first shot of the match — and it remained the only meaningful attempt of the first half, as Everton succeeded in frustrating the hosts while posing a threat on the counter-attack.
Those frustrations were underlined when, with two minutes of the opening period remaining, the Toffees successfully dealt with a short corner routine and the ball was played to centre-back Robin Koch, whose speculative 35-yard effort sailed harmlessly over the crossbar.
Leeds came flying out of the blocks after the half-time interval and forced Jordan Pickford into his first save of the evening inside 60 seconds, when Aaronson curled an effort on goal following a sweeping move in the left channel.
Jesse Marsch’s side did get their equaliser nine minutes later. Sinisterra finding the bottom right corner with a 20-yard strike that unsighted Pickford.
Tempers continued to flare and there was another flash point when Gordon and Rasmus Kristensen came head-to-head in a coming together that saw both players cautioned.
Everton’s spirit was set to be tested again with the noise cranked up a notch following the leveller, but Lampard’s troops thought they had hit the front again on 66 minutes when a combination of Onana and Iwobi won back possession in midfield and Gordon slid in Gray, who finished past Illan Meslier with aplomb.
Celebrations were cut short by the offside flag, though, with a VAR review deeming Gray was a matter of a couple of inches beyond the last Leeds defender.
Both teams then had opportunities to grab a victory in the closing stages.
First, Pickford was on hand to thwart substitute Joe Gelhardt in a one-on-one situation before, at the other end, Onana’s prodded effort from a corner was blocked by the head of Kristensen.
The best chance, however, fell to Patterson, when, after an eye-catching spell of one and two-touch passing, the Scot was released through on goal by Gordon. The full-back’s shot had plenty of power, but lacked direction as Meslier stood tall to beat it away.
Next up for Everton is the Merseyside derby — the 241st meeting between the two sides — at Goodison Park on Saturday (12.30pm BST).
