DESPITE the limited options in respect of strikers available to David Moyes at Goodison Park on Sunday, Everton more than played their part in a pulsating and thrilling match that went some way to explaining just why the Premier League is the most watched, most exciting and most successful league in the world.

Ultimately the game, which could easily have gone either way, was decided in the dying seconds and ensured that the audience, certainly had their money’s worth.

And it meant that Everton fans, even though they were not happy with the result, could at least console themselves with appreciation for their team’s performance and recognise its quality in a contest between two sides nursing ambitions to play European football next season.

Compare Sunday’s game if you will with game of a similar stature in Italy, Spain or Germany; regular viewers of such continental fare would be hard-pushed to see anything matching the standard of effort and commitment, to say nothing about the unpredictability of the outcome.

Apart from the excitement there were several other things worthy of comment, among them the slow but sure return to top form of Everton defender Joleon Lescott. But topping the lot were the body language, demeanour and actions of Moyes during the latter stages of the game.

He is normally a man who, while passionate about the game and his team, is more than capable of controlling his emotions in public.

But on Sunday, there was a sense of a massive release of some of the frustrations that have built up over the past few months in terms of finance, a constant run of injuries and, despite their lofty league position, a so far disappointing return from fixtures on home soil.