Zola saw his side fall behind in the first half before battling back with an equaliser through Manuel Da Costa in the second-half. Everton striker Yakubu then thought he’d won the game for the Toffees with a late strike however the Hammers produced a sublime piece of attacking play for Ilan to head home a Julien Faubert cross to level the scoring.
“I and all the team decided we have to fight until the end,” said the manager. “No matter what, we are going to fight until the end. Today was a clear demonstration that we will never give up. To go 2-1 down could have been a massive blow but we reacted and it was brilliant. I was very pleased with what they did.”
The only blemish on West Ham’s afternoon was the booking of inspirational midfielder Scott Parker that triggers an automatic two-game suspension for reaching 10 yellow-cards. Parker has been the one stand-out performer for his club over the last couple of months but Zola believes his side can cope with the loss. “Scott is an important player but I am sure that the others will run and fight hard to make sure his absence is not too big,” he said. “It is important that after a long spell of defeats to have this point. It will give us a lot of confidence plus I believe we have found extra spirit for the next match.”