BILYALETDIN-OFF DAY FOR MOYES

IT'S often joked in this part of Merseyside that three Russians have played for Everton - Kanchelskis, Bilyaletdinov and GetOsmanOff.

Yesterday, referee Lee Probert did get Diniyar Bilyaletdinov off - and with good reason.

The Russia international looked to be justifying his £8million summer arrival from Lokomotiv Moscow when he put Everton ahead moments before the break.

But just when his side were pushing hard for a late winner, the normally intelligent winger let the side down when he was dismissed for a two-footed tackle.

Martin O'Neill described the challenge as "nasty" and from where most people were sitting the Villa boss looked to have called it spot-on.

Let's forget for a moment that this was a largely forgettable contest. The bigger picture is that David Moyes' side could really have done with three points.

They have been slow to get going before Christmas in recent seasons but victory in this game would have left them clinging to the coat-tails of Villa and Manchester City.

That would have been some achievement considering they have an injury list that would comfortably stretch across Stanley Park.

The absences of Mikel Arteta, Phil Jagielka, Phil Neville, Victor Anichebe and Steven Pienaar have contributed to them not winning any of their last six games.

Everton wear a smart kit which is a throwback to their glory years of the mid-1980s. Their tactics at times look as if they belong to the same era even if they are not nearly as sophisticated.

At present they are restricted to trying to find Marouane Fellaini and Tim Cahill with high balls into the penalty area.

Villa dealt with most of them fairly comfortably but fell behind in first-half stoppage time when a ball into the box from Cahill found Yakubu on the edge of the area.

The Nigerian miscontrolled with his first touch but the ball ran free to Bilyaletdinov, who steered it past Brad Friedel.

O'Neill was forced into a change at the interval when James Milner, who had battled on through injury until the break, was substituted.

HUGS: Carew is congratulated

And his replacement John Carew - dropped after a poor game at Wolves last week - made a point to O'Neill within 44 seconds of the restart.

Gabby Agbonlahor's shot was only parried by Tim Howard and Carew was on hand to stroke in the equaliser from just outside the six-yard box.

Both sides had half-chances from then on, but the most notable drama occurred in the final four minutes.

First Bilyaletdinov was sent off for a two-footed lunge which left Stilyan Petrov nursing a shin injury.

Then Carlos Cuellar, who had been booked in the first half, was given a second yellow card for a foul on Everton substitute Louis Saha.

It took the momentum out of a game which had looked to be heading for an exciting finish.

As it was, ten versus ten left both sides wondering how best to attack each other. Moyes and O'Neill were predictably defensive of their players when commenting on the sending-offs.

As Moyes pointed out, his side are resilient if nothing else. Unless they get some injured players back sooner rather than later, though, they will not be troubling the top seven or eight any time soon. Villa are drawing a few too many to be certain of mounting a real challenge to dislodge one of the top four.

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