All week the smart money had been on Paolo Di Canio producing a Grinch-who-ruined-Christmas-style performance simply to irritate an audience which, in the past, has been to Italian footballers what Glasgow's Kelvin Hall used to be to comedians and support bands.
But wait, what sorcery was this? A match of almost unrelenting tedium had finally drawn its last breath and here was a Merseyside public, still choking on bile freshly risen to its throat after a very late West Ham equaliser, waiting patiently in the driving rain in order that Di Canio might be saluted. Curious, indeed.
To explain. The game had drifted into stoppage time when the Everton goalkeeper Paul Gerrard fell to the ground clutching his knee some distance from his goal.
As Gerrard lay in obvious discomfort, the West Ham winger Trevor Sinclair whipped a cross over into the penalty area where Di Canio was standing some 16 yards from what was a largely unprotected target.
He would probably have scored but, instead of heading, volleying or dribbling home, Di Canio reached up and caught the ball, shaking his head as he pointed at the prone goalkeeper.
Several of the Italian's team-mates, who are soon to be joined by Liverpool's Guinean striker Titi Camara, seemed upset by the gesture but Goodison Park rose as one to acclaim such sportsmanship. West Ham manager Harry Redknapp admitted he would rather have won the game but he was far too smart to condemn his player's display of Corinthian spirit.
"I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like that before," he said. "He would have scored, I think. It was genuine sportsmanship; it's nice to know that it does still exist in the game. We could have done with the three points but I won't be throttling Di Canio."
Everton were deeply indebted to Di Canio for, after Frederic Kanoute's smart strike with just six minutes remaining, West Ham seemed the more likely winners.
However Everton had seemed on course to confound all logic after Steve Watson's fine header from Stephen Hughes's corner was touched home by Danny Cadamarteri.
Walter Smith's men are currently so dreadfully impotent that their Premiership survival should not be taken for granted.
It had been suggested that Aston Villa were toying with the idea of investing around £5 million on Everton's thirtysomething striker, Kevin Campbell, one of the few in a blue shirt on Saturday who could take a certain pride in his performance. And who would blame Campbell should he decide to leave since the "support" from the gifted Cadamarteri was generally ineffective.
Everton: Gerrard (Simonsen 90), Steve Watson, Weir, Hughes, Pembridge, Ball, Naysmith, Gravesen (Alexandersson 86), Gemmill, Cadamarteri, Campbell. Subs Not Used: Unsworth, Moore, Tal. Booked: Cadamarteri. Goals: Cadamarteri 75.
West Ham: Hislop, Stuart Pearce, Song, Ian Pearce, Sinclair, Lomas, Winterburn, Lampard, Carrick, Di Canio, Kanoute. Subs Not Used: Potts, Suker, Diawara, Tihinen, Bywater. Booked: Kanoute, Lomas. Goals: Kanoute 83. Referee: C Wilkes (Gloucester).
