Everton 2 Aston Villa 2: Carew keeps Villa dreaming of Europe

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Do not take your eyes off the Premier League's other thrilling denouement. Arguably the most memorable and significant encounter between these sides since their legendary League Cup final marathon went to extra time in a second replay 33 years ago, left Villa right in the race for a Uefa Cup place last night.

Everton's three-point advantage might have been preserved but their visit to Arsenal might, given their solitary league point secured there since 1996, just put paid to that and if Villa also overcome Wigan next weekend a memorable final Saturday is on the cards. Villa's goal difference is one better than their rivals.

Everton certainly thought they were out of sight when, six minutes from time, Joseph Yobo arrived to side-foot home a cross from Lee Carsley, the ex-Coventry and Derby player whose huge defensive contribution here demonstrated his manager's uncanny knack of making gold from baser metals.

But there is a reason why Villa are the League's leading scorers away from home (35 now, to Manchester United's 31). Their late resurgence has been built around John Carew's mighty frame and it was he who clambered above Joleon Lescott – a feat not many strikers can lay claim to this season – to nod in Gareth Barry's free-kick.

Everton's task ahead may be a sizeable one – as Moyes observed last night, it's "not easy getting results at the end of the season" and least of all at Arsenal – but memories of a Uefa Cup run which yielded eight wins and a draw before defeat on penalties to Fiorentina might just provide the incentive his injury-depleted side needs. "The Uefa Cup means a lot here," Moyes said. "We felt we were unfortunate not to go further down the road and we want to go back there."

For their part, recovering twice in the last 10 minutes with a formation which looked like 1-5-4 at the end will make Villa feel like they can achieve anything. "Where do I start?" said their manager Martin O'Neill, trying to sum up what he had just seen. "The tactics were changing very quickly, almost with each attack and the players adapted to that."

If Everton, with 12 goals fewer away than Villa, are the Chelsea of this shadow title race, then their record at Goodison is also a carbon copy. Should Moyes's side beat Newcastle a week on Sunday, they will have gone an entire season without losing to anyone but one of the "big four". Take out a defeat to Spurs 14 months ago and you have to go back to November 2006 to find another non-elite side which beat them here: Aston Villa.

But their collapse since Uefa Cup elimination – six points from seven now, since that March evening – has drained them. The "Capital of Culture '08" balloon drifting above Goodison most of yesterday afternoon vanished more than once in the swirling mist and the rain and that seemed to reflect the durability of Everton's cultural expression. There were the makings of invention in there, in the way Leon Osman ran 15 yards or so early on into the heart of Villa's defence, Zat Knight backing off, but his tame shot was palmed away. The two sets of fans told the story: Villa's exuberant, still dining out on last Sunday's derby demolition; Everton's silent and tense.

Everton were also short on the confidence to play through midfield and, by looking for the long ball and conceding possession, gradually handed Villa the upper hand. The yellow right boot of Ashley Young, a player freewheeling again in his free role behind the strikers, bent a right-foot free-kick from the edge of the box to rattle the bar. A further corner and cross from him showed what he might offer Fabio Capello.

But Moyes, desperate for Uefa qualification to help in his summer pursuit of players, said something at the break and Osman's exquisite touch to Yakubu, 11 minutes after the restart saw the striker feint past Mellberg. When his cross seemed to have fallen behind anyone in the box, Phil Neville arrived to blast it in from the edge of the area with a thick deflection off Martin Laursen.

It was, as Moyes observed, "a cup tie" from there on in. Another threatening delivery from a Young corner bounced in front of Gabriel Agbonlahor who shot home. When Yobo seemed to have sealed things, Carew dispatched the ball Barry had sent in from the left. Even when it seemed safe to draw breath, it took the best of Scott Carson to touch another Yobo header, right-handed, onto the post. "Villa have always been there and so have we," said Moyes, reflecting on the finale to come, which sees O'Neill's side face West Ham away in a fortnight. Has May ever promised so much for so many of them?

Goals: Neville (56) 1-0; Agbonlahor (80) 1-1; Yobo (84) 2-1; Carew (86) 2-2.

Everton (4-4-2) Howard; Neville, Jagielka, Yobo, Lescott; Fernandes (Arteta, 66) Carsley, Osman, Pienaar; Johnson (Anichebe, 83), Yakubu. Substitutes not used: Wessels (gk), Hibbert, Baines.

Aston Villa (4-4-2) Carson; Mellberg, Knight (Berger, 75), Laursen, Bouma (Harewood, 88); Reo-Coker, Petrov, Barry, Young; Agbonlahor, Carew. Substitutes not used: Taylor (gk), Salifou, Routledge.

Referee: P Dowd (Stoke-on-Trent).

Booked Everton Yakubu, Carsley, Anichebe; Aston Villa Petrov, Harewood.

Man of the match: Young

Attendance: 37,936.