The Barclays Premier League is an unforgiving world, but surely a thought should be spared for the wife of David Moyes, the Everton manager, who had to spend another Saturday evening at home with nothing to comfort her other than a fourth successive Chinese takeaway and a husband in no mood to celebrate.

Pamela Moyes’s hopes that she could finally enjoy a Saturday night out — for the first time since September 26, when Everton won their last league game, away to Portsmouth — were raised immediately before the half-time interval when Diniyar Bilyaletdinov gave the Merseyside club the lead, and dashed straight after the break when John Carew equalised for Aston Villa. Again, there was to be no victory ritual.

If Mrs Moyes was looking for some much-needed consolation as she tucked into her won ton soup then the fact that her other half is looking on the bright side of Everton’s indifferent start to the season will probably have brought some solace. Everton are only six points behind city rivals Liverpool, who are sixth, yet just five points ahead of bottom-placed Portsmouth.

“We’re not far off the top teams in the table still,” Moyes said after a third successive home draw left his team languishing thirteenth place. “We know we have to get better. If Villa are going for the top four, and you would have to say they have a chance as they are a good team, then on this evidence Everton are not that far behind. That was the case in the last couple of seasons. We are better than where we are at the moment, and hopefully we can move up the table.”

Moyes’s assessment was accurate. There was little to separate the sides, as has been the case for some time. Everton’s lengthy injury list, however, is making it almost impossible for them to prove superior to any of their opponents, hence their wait of more than a month for that elusive victory for which Pamela Moyes, not to mention the Everton supporters, must be desperate. Had it not been for the half-time introduction of Carew, as substitute for James Milner, the win might even have come on Saturday. The arrival of the big Norway international heralded a tactical reshuffle from Martin O’Neill, the Villa manager, who switched Gabriel Agbonlahor from a central role in attack to the right wing. The reshuffle paid dividends within 46 seconds of the restart when Carew took advantage of enterprising work by Agbonlahor and hesitant defending to cancel out Bilyaletdinov’s opener.

Pity anyone who decided to nip down early for a half-time cup of tea only to be confronted by a lengthy queue, for the chances are they will have missed the only two moments of any real note in a drab, colourless affair in which Brad Friedel and Tim Howard, the American goalkeepers, went untroubled for long spells.

At least a couple of late dismissals livened proceedings. Bilyaletdinov undid his early good work with a dreadful lunge on Stiliyan Petrov, the Villa midfield player, and Carlos Cuéllar was harshly given a second yellow card when the Villa defender appeared to win the ball in a challenge on Yakubu Aiyegbeni, the Everton forward.

“I think it’s pretty clear that the referee [Lee Probert] got the first decision absolutely correct,” O’Neill said. “It’s a really nasty challenge so that’s straightforward and I think he got the second one wrong. But I preface everything by saying how difficult the game is now to referee.”

Maybe there is room for sympathy in the Premier League after all.

Everton (4-4-1-1): T Howard 6 L Neill 7 J Yobo 6 S Distin 6 L Baines 7 T Cahill 6 J Heitinga 6 J Rodwell 6 D Bilyaletdinov 6 M Fellaini 6 Yakubu Aiyegbeni 6. Substitutes: L Saha (for Fellaini, 72min), Jô (for Yakubu, 90). Not used: C Nash, D Gosling, K Agard, S Coleman, S Duffy. Next: West Ham United (a).

Aston Villa (4-4-2): B Friedel 6 C Cuéllar 6 D Collins 7 R Dunne 6 S Warnock 7 J Milner 5 S Sidwell 5 S Petrov 7 A Young 6 E Heskey 5 G Agbonlahor 6 Substitutes: J Carew 7 (for Milner, 46min), N Reo-Coker (for Petrov, 90). Not used: L Young, B Guzan, F Delph, N Shorey, H Beye. Next: West Ham United (a).

Referee: L Probert Attendance: 36,648.