David Moyes may have had reason to bemoan his luck yesterday after Everton conceded an own goal for the third successive match, but it was Phil Brown, the Hull City manager, who was convinced that his team had been the victim of a greater injustice after Tim Cahill’s 73rd-minute goal was controversially judged to have crossed the line after ricocheting down off the underside of the bar.

At the time Hull were leading 2-0, the beneficiaries of Everton’s defensive inadequacies at two routine corners. The first was headed home by Michael Turner to hand Hull the lead in the eighteenth minute and the second was diverted past his own goalkeeper by Phil Neville, the Everton captain, a minute after half-time.

Cahill’s goal, awarded by Lee Mason, the referee, under guidance from Mick McDonough, one of his assistants, added conviction to Everton’s second-half revival that had been inspired by the half-time introduction of Louis Saha for his debut. Leon Osman equalised in the 78th minute to deny Brown’s team back-to-back wins and the manager was unable to disguise his frustration.

Brown knows how costly the decision could be, having been involved in a similar experience when he was the assistant manager at Bolton Wanderers 11 years ago. “We played Everton at the Reebok Stadium and they cleared the ball from behind the line when it had clearly gone over and the game ended up as a draw,” Brown, who revealed that he is in talks with Stelios Giannakopoulos the former Bolton winger, said. “We got relegated on goal difference and Everton survived on goal difference. The referee gave it [today], so it had to be over the line, but if you look at the evidence it’s very inconclusive.”

Saha transformed the visiting team and Moyes was satisfied with the striker’s first display for his new club. “Louis made a difference to how we played and I was glad to get him out on the pitch,” Moyes said. “If I can get him fit he’ll get us some points.”

Hull City (4-4-2): B Myhill 7 – P McShane 6, K Zayatte 7, M Turner 7, A Dawson 6 – B Mendy 5 (sub: R Garcia, 77min), D Marney 7, I Ashbee 6, P Halmosi 6 – M King 8 (sub: G Boateng, 82), D Cousin 7 (sub: C Folan, 69 6). Substitutes not used: M Duke, Geovanni, B Hughes, S Ricketts.

Everton (4-4-1-1): T Howard 5 – P Neville 4, J Yobo 5, P Jagielka 6, L Baines 5 (sub: J Lescott, 46 6) – L Osman 6, M Fellaini 5, S Castillo 5 (sub: L Saha 46, 8), M Arteta 6 – T Cahill 7 – Yakubu Ayegbeni 7 (sub: J Vaughan, 88). Substitutes not used: C Nash, N Valente, J Rodwell, J Baxter. Booked: Fellaini.