Zola’s prayers are answered

GIANFRANCO ZOLA arrived at Goodison Park is search of some divine inspiration and left with his prayers answered after West Ham finally demonstrated that they have a stomach for the fight they find themselves in at the bottom of the Premier League.

West Ham’s troubles looked set to continue after sub Yakubu thought he had won it for Everton when he scored, five minutes from time, to make it 2-1. But Araujo Ilan, another substitute, produced a bullet header 60 seconds later that brought Everton’s seven-match winning run at home to an end and gave West Ham and their under-pressure manager hope of avoiding the drop.

Zola had revealed on the eve of his side’s visit to Merseyside that he is deeply religious and would clearly welcome divine intervention to help the club in its current turmoil.

However, it appeared for long spells as if Zola’s problems were set to continue as Diniyar Bilyaletdinov took advantage of shocking defending by the visitors to nod Everton into a first half lead.

West Ham looked as though they were in for another afternoon of despair when Mido had a controversial penalty saved by Tim Howard, the Egyptian’s tame effort comfortably stopped by the keeper.

But the visitors improved after the interval and got a priceless equaliser when Da Costa struck.

Even when Yakubu pounced in the dying moments, West Ham dug deep and showed the spirit that has been lacking in recent weeks, Ilan heading home to dent Everton’s hopes of qualifying for Europe.

“We’re going to fight to the end and this proves it,” a relieved Zola said. “We’re not going to give up...I’m off to get drunk now!”

As a Chelsea player, Zola relished confrontations with Everton. He beat Toffees keeper Neville Southall in December 1996 to net his first Premier League goal after arriving from Parma. Zola’s last league goal for Chelsea before joining Cagliari in 2003 was in a 4-1 rout of Everton. In total he netted six times in 12 Premier League outings against Everton. But Everton are in form and West Ham’s cause was not helped as Valon Behrami was injured warming up.

Everton led as West Ham failed to deal with a deep cross by Leighton Baines, allowing Bilyaletdinov to head past Green from close range.

It went from bad to worse for Zola.

Howard Webb pointed to the spot in the 36th minute after Sylvain Distin was wrongly adjudged to have brought down Carlton Cole. Mido, yet to score since joining two months ago, allowed Howard to make a save after a tame effort by the Egyptian.

West Ham needed a response and, got one as Manuel Da Costa scrambled the ball over the line after a corner by Mark Noble. Moments earlier Noble was denied by the woodwork after a clever chip almost caught Tim Howard napping.

Everton should have had a penalty when Louis Saha was fouled by Da Costa. But home fans were cheering as Yakubu made it 2-1 after heading home another fine cross by Baines.

Yet in a dramatic finale, Ilan threw himself at Julian Faubert’s cross to give West Ham hope of avoiding the drop. “It’s disappointing to go 2-1 up and throw it away,” said manager David Moyes. “It was a stonewall penalty for us as well. The decision not to give us a penalty was poor.”

MATCH RATING: ** Untidy for 45 minutes but the second-half was far more exciting.

Referee: Howard Webb (Rotherham) 5 – Looked like he got it wrong when he refused to give penalty for Da Costa tackle on Saha.