David Moyes was without three of his best creative forces as Everton eyed a return to winning ways at Turf Moor after successive defeats by Chelsea and Arsenal.
Adding to the absences of Iliman Ndiaye, away at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) with Senegal, and the injured Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Jack Grealish was also missing from the matchday squad with a virus.
But that handed a rare opportunity for 19-year-old winger Tyler Dibling – a £40m summer signing from Southampton – whose only previous Everton start came against Crystal Palace on 5 October and ended at half-time.
Moyes has preferred the more experienced Dwight McNeil on the right wing as a back-up for four-goal Ndiaye, but with Grealish also absent on Saturday it was a chance for the teenager to make an impression on his manager.
He began brightly by flashing an effort across the goal that was not far from an arriving Beto for Everton’s first real chance.
He also did well to provide the cross from which Alcaraz registered the first shot on target in the 29th minute, which would have made the Everton faithful wonder why Moyes does not trust him enough to hand him more regular minutes.
But by the time he made way for Nathan Patterson in the 89th minute, Dibling had struggled to reproduce the spark and ingenuity that set him apart in an otherwise poor Southampton side during the first half of the 2024-25 season.
The draw is a setback for Everton, aiming for a place in Europe after a seven-year hiatus, but it was a performance that could be expected of a side that only had six outfield players on the bench – four of whom were yet to make their full Premier League debuts.
