Shaun Wright-Phillips is due a drink from all of his teammates as a reward for his contribution to this dramatic last-gasp win, though John Obi Mikel should treat him to another night out at the club in Soho where the England winger recently held his infamous 26th birthday party.

The Nigeria midfield player appeared to have irrevocably altered the course of an eventful match that Chelsea were dominating with his 55th minute sending-off, before Wright-Phillips popped up in injury time to change it again by forcing a dramatic winner off Joleon Lescott, the Everton defender.

Whether Chelsea deserved to take a lead to Goodison Park in a fortnight is doubtful after Everton’s impressive second-half display, though Wright-Phillips was a worthy winner after producing his most enterprising performance of the season in front of Fabio Capello, the new England manager. Given the inconsistencies that have marked his career to date, all England fans will hope that this represents a new beginning.

Wright-Phillips opened the scoring with a curling shot in the 26th minute before leaping above Lescott to force a late own goal. For a moment it appeared as if the 5ft 6in winger had headed the ball himself, but that would have been too much to ask.

Above all it was his versatility that will have impressed Capello, a quality conspicuous by its absence among the other players who will make up his first squad. After starting off in midfield, Wright-Phillips moved to the right wing when Joe Cole was sacrificed after Mikel’s dismissal, before ending up in the unfamiliar role of a lone striker as Chelsea held on for a draw with Everton pouring forward. Avram Grant, the Chelsea first-team coach, also deserves credit for turning an essentially defensive substitution into an attacking weapon.

“I put Shaun forward because he’s faster than everyone else, but I didn’t know he’d score with his head,” Grant said. “Shaun was in the last England squad and will be in Capello’s. He’s a good player, very quick and can play in a lot of different positions as we saw today.”

Grant was on less comfortable ground as he skirted around Mikel’s fourth sending-off in the past 16 months, which was thoroughly deserved for a lunge at Phil Neville reminiscent of his dismissal against Manchester United in September.

The 20-year-old has also collected 13 yellow cards since he was stolen from under the noses of Manchester United two years ago, and for all his promise is starting to become a liability. Peter Crouch, who was sent off at Stamford Bridge in the previous round after reacting to Mikel’s perceived provocation, would have been pleased, but after 68 appearances no one at Chelsea can be satisfied at their prodigy’s continued impetuousness.

Although he would not say so publicly, Grant will have hardened to this view when Everton equalised ten minutes after Mikel’s dismissal, particularly given the nationality of their goalscorer. James McFadden’s wonderful free kick from the left was missed by the flapping Hilário, with Joseph Yobo volleying back across goal for Yakubu Ayegbeni to score acrobatically.

Having spent much of last week negotiating with Berti Vogts, the Nigeria coach, over the release date of players for the African Cup of Nations, Grant will have been regretting his diplomacy, particularly as Everton looked like taking a valuable first-leg lead. Yakubu almost returned the favour for McFadden four minutes later, releasing the Scotland midfield player with a brilliant backheel and watching opened-mouthed as he held off rash challenges from Alex and Ricardo Carvalho before shooting across the face of goal. As the ball bounced back off the far post, Grant will definitely have rued his decision to pick up the phone to Lagos.

As a spiteful contest threatened to spill over into further acrimony with a running battle between Lescott and Juliano Belletti, Chelsea appeared to settle for a draw, when Grant replaced Claudio Pizarro with Paulo Ferreira, though the decision to send Wright-Phillips up front proved inspired.

Michael Ballack hoisted an overhead kick high into Everton’s penalty area, but cannot have anticipated Wright-Phillips’s unlikely leap. David Moyes, the Everton manager, claimed that Lescott was impeded by an arm on his shoulder, though having got up so high, Wright-Phillips deserved to get away with it. Lescott had an opportunity to add a further late twist when he found himself through on goal, though his left-foot shot was well saved by Hilário.

Capello will have been heartened by a match-winning performance from one of his prospective players, if slightly concerned at confirmation that his new country does pace and passion far better than calculated cunning. Capello is charged with bringing back the glory days by doing an Italian Job on the national side, though he will have enjoyed watching this footballing version of The Fast and the Furious.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Hilário – J Belletti, Alex, R Carvalho, W Bridge – S Wright-Phillips, J O Mikel, M Ballack – J Cole (sub: S Sidwell, 61min), C Pizarro (sub: P Ferreira, 83), F Malouda (sub: T Ben Haim, 90). Substitutes not used: C Cudicini, B Sahar. Booked: Belletti, Cole. Sent off: Mikel.

Everton (4-4-1-1): T Howard – A Hibbert, J Yobo, P Jagielka, J Lescott – P Neville, L Carsley, T Cahill, J McFadden – A Johnson – Yakubu Ayegbeni (sub: V Anichebe, 90). Substitutes not used: S Wessels, T Gravesen, J Vaughan, N Valente. Booked: Carsley, Hibbert, Neville, Johnson.

Referee: P Walton.

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