With Onana assumed to be fit and Doucouré finally back from injury, much was expected from the supporters of Dyche’s team but they were served up 45 minutes of abject fare by both sides in a first half that was desperately short on quality.

With Seamus Coleman absent from the squad, Dyche had persisted with Ashley Young as a makeshift but ultimately ineffective right-winger and retained Ben Godfrey at right-back but the set-up yielded a procession of long balls pumped forward in the direction of Calvert-Lewin and precious little by way of joined-up football.

Indeed, for all their problems, Palace looked the more likely to make the breakthrough in the early going as James Tarkowski was forced to stretch to divert Tyreek Mitchell’s low cross to prevent it reaching Jean-Philippe Mateta in the six-yard box and Odsonne Edouard might have done better than shoot straight at Jordan Pickford.

Prior to that, Idrissa Gueye had had a shot from distance charged down but Doucouré had the first genuine sight of goal for the hosts when he cracked a volley off Joel Ward’s miscued clearance a yard or so wide with quarter of an hour gone.

In the 23rd minute, a lovely touch by Doucouré freed Dwight McNeil to cross from the left but Calvert-Lewin was off target with a decent headed chance before the pendulum swung back in the visitors’ favour for the remainder of the half.

A wide-open Daniel Muñoz elected not to shoot and teed Edouard up instead but the striker slashed a poor effort into the Gwladys Street End before Chris Richards twice went close from corners.

His first header deflected off Tarkowski’s thigh and from the second dead-ball delivery, the defender connected at the far post but Young hacked it off the goal-line to deny the Eagles their first set-piece goal of the season.

Everton’s display in the first 45 minutes cried out for changes at the break but Dyche persisted with his one-dimensional and toothless starting XI for a further 20 minutes into the second period.

A rare, decent move 10 minutes after the restart saw Calvert-Lewin charge down the left touchline and the ball was eventually worked to James Garner but, just as he’d done with a direct free-kick opportunity just before the interval, he spooned over.

At the other end, Pickford came haring off his line to charge Mitchell down and put the ball out for a throw and Edouard despatched an over-head kick attempt into the Park End but things looked like might finally go Everton’s way shortly afterwards.

A Garner free-kick from the right was cleared only as far as Vitalii Mykolenko whose goal-bound volley was stopped by Ward on the hour mark. Four minutes later, Godfrey counter-attacked with purpose, McNeil’s cross was diverted behind and, from the resulting corner, Tarkowski prompted Sam Johnstone into a parrying save, Gueye rattled the loose ball across goal to Doucouré at the back post where it seemed to sit up perfectly for the Frenchman to stab home  but he failed to get decent purchase on it and it was smuggled away.

Two minutes after that, Goodison was stunned into silence when Ayew broke the deadlock. Mateta did well to hold off the attentions of Jarrad Branthwaite long enough to bring Ayew into play and the Ghanaian took one touch before smashing a crisp shot across Pickford and inside the far post.

It was a frighteningly rare moment of quality in a match contested by two poor teams but, combined with changes from Dyche, it at least spurred the Blues into greater action from the perspective of their attack which was altered further 18 minutes from the end when Beto replaced Doucouré.

Another good McNeil delivery from the left picked out Calvert-Lewin but, again, he planted his header wide and a really good chance opened up for Garner soon afterwards but he bounced his shot too close to the keeper who pushed the effort away with both gloves.

The ensuing corner brought the leveller for Everton, however. McNeil swung it in left-footed from the right and Onana rose above a forest of bodies at the back stick to head home emphatically.

Sadly, it did not prove to be the catalyst for a late winner, even after the fourth official’s board went up to signal six extra minutes, almost all of which ebbed away as Palace forced a series of throw-ins in Everton’s half to wind down the clock.

Tarkowski had the best chance when he unexpectedly met an 87th-minute free-kick and couldn’t keep his header down while Beto steered a Mykolenko cross just wide with a stooping header in stoppage time.