Everton at Norwich City - Lukaku goal not enough as Everton draw again

You could make the argument that any point is a good point, but it certainly won't feel like that to Evertonians after a fully earned 1-1 draw at Norwich City.

As with their entertaining but ultimately heart wrenching draw at Bournemouth, Everton fully dominated the first half. Romelu Lukaku open the scoring by heading home a peach of a cross from Gerard Deulofeu in the 15th minute. It was Lukaku's 12th of the season. Lukaku and Deulofeu are now the most profitable assist to goal scorer partnership in the Premier League, with Deulofeu assisting on six of Lukaku's goals.

The rest of the first half was an epic of near misses. Arouna Kone twice had the Norwich keeper Declan Rudd one-on-one, only to be stifled by Rudd's assertive goal keeping. In the 17th minute Deulofeu managed to play a two on two situation out for a goal kick instead of working the ball to a waiting Lukaku. Leighton Baines announced his arrival back in Premier League in the 39th minute, just hitting the bar after a tremendous strike.

The only nervy moment for the Toffees came as John Stones lunged for Leighton Baines's near post corner and crumpled awkwardly behind the net. Stones remained down for a few minutes, but was able to come back.

The second half was, once again, an entirely different story for Everton. Norwich came out aggressively and equalized in 46th minute. Once again it was set pieces that did Everton in as Tim Howard managed to get a hand on a Norwich header, which was then unable to be cleared by Ross Barkley. Wes Hoolahan pounced on the loose ball and was able to squeak one by a waiting Barkley.

Everton never managed to regain the bite they had in the first half although they did manage a few opportunities. In the 49th minute Gerard Deulofeu made a brilliant move past his marker but Everton only managed an off balance Tom Cleverley strike. Perhaps Everton's best chance of the second half came unexpectedly from a Gareth Barry header at 79th minute. Barry was denied Declan Rudd's quick reaction.

The best chance of the half clearly belonged to Norwich in the 70th minute. Everton had pinned Norwich's Wes Hoolahan inside their penalty area, but Hoolahan played a brilliant backheel pass to a waiting Jerome. Jerome managed only to smash the ball over crossbar, with a strike he's sure to regret for years to come.

Both Deulofeu and Ross Barkley, who had a near invisible afternoon, were subbed. Their replacement (Kevin Mirallas and Darron Gibson respectively) did little alter the tide of the match.

On the plus side of the Toffee ledger, this game did feature the return of Leighton Baines to full match duty. Baines showed some rust with a few lost possessions, but his passing remained crisp. Baines received cheers from the visiting fans each time he took a corner.

A point is certainly a point, but Everton will have to be frustrated by another week of inertia. They now have 23 points and are technically sixth on the table, pending the remainder of this weekend's results.