Birmingham made it eight games undefeated as they battled hard at Goodison Park to earn a 1-1 draw with Everton. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov gave Everton the lead but instead of capitalising on this they allowed Birmingham to draw level with their first attack of the first half through Sebastian Larsson.

The Toffees continued to make all the running but failed to find their way through a stubborn visitor's rearguard.

Everton boss David Moyes: "I'm frustrated because we had opportunities in a game which I feel we were in control of and should have won.

"I didn't think Saha's disallowed goal would be the turning point at the time because I thought we were dominating the game and playing so well we would go on a score more goals. I thought our play was fine but I thought in the final third we were wasteful in our final pass and finish.

"(But) I thought Birmingham were really resilient. They are on a good run and they went up the pitch once and got a goal. They earned that because they worked really hard to stay in the game and we have not been quite good enough to break them down today."

Birmingham boss Alex McLeish: "It is a good end to the run up to Christmas. We were hoping we would remain intact on this unbeaten run up to Christmas Day.

"To come to Goodison, not play that great and get a point I suppose is a fantastic bonus.

"I know Louis Saha was not offside. We have had some like that go against us but it shows you, in a split-second decision, how difficult it is for the linesman."