LIVE by the sword, die by the sword. Having already demonstrated the virtue of never giving up hope until the final whistle on numerous occasions this season, Everton failed to follow their own example yesterday.

A deserved point appeared to have been salvaged from a dramatic encounter with Aston Villa when Joleon Lescott acrobatically volleyed his second goal in the third minute of stoppage time.

Yet, remarkably, there was still enough time for David Moyes’s side to once again shoot themselves in the foot in front of their own supporters with Ashley Young grabbing an unlikely three points for the visitors.

Some finish, some game. But when the dust settles and heads are clearer this morning, the simple fact is Everton’s dismal record at Goodison goes on.

It’s now just one win in eight Premier League games at what last season was a fortress breached only by the so-called big four. On their travels, only Chelsea and Liverpool can boast a better record; at home only Blackburn Rovers are worse.

Not good enough, particularly for a team still harbouring ambitions, as Moyes stated before the game, of joining such exalted company. And Everton have only themselves to blame for losing a game in which they dominated.

Twice the home side had efforts cleared off the line, the crossbar was hit and Villa were indebted to a fine goalkeeping display from Brad Friedel and an heroic effort from centre-back Martin Laursen.

But lapses in concentration and some individual mistakes were capitalised on by the devastating counter-attacking threat of Villa that had shocked Arsenal last month and illustrated why Martin O’Neill’s side are maybe the better-equipped to gatecrash the Champions League places.

None more so than in the 54th minute when Phil Jagielka marked his 50th league appearance for the club with a howler of gargantuan proportions, his misdirected back-pass gifting Ashley Young the chance to dispatch clinically past Tim Howard.

Jagielka has been outstanding for Everton this season and has already shown the strength of character during his Goodison career to ensure his game won’t be affected by one mistake.