Everton enjoyed more possession for most of the first period but they lacked a cutting edge in the final third of the pitch as Norwich proved to be a stubborn opponent for Roberto Martinez and his fellow visitors from Merseyside.

Not many clear chances were created early on at Carrow Road but Marouane Fellaini did have a sniff at goal when he headed a Leighton Baines corner over the crossbar.

Norwich started to lose the battle in midfield as the first half progressed, with Steven Pienaar and Leon Osman enjoying more and more time on the ball.

A fluent move just before half time saw Kevin Mirallas find some space on the edge of the box but the Belgian dragged his shot wide of John Ruddy's goal.

The hosts looked an improved side after the break and they took the lead when Steven Whittaker held off a challenge from Fellaini before striking the post with a curling effort. Whittaker reacted quickest and slotted home from a tight angle to give the Canaries the lead.

Ross Barkely impressed all afternoon for the visitors and the young midfielder opened his Everton account with a beautiful strike from 20 yards out to ensure that Norwich's lead did not last longer than 10 minutes.

Everton's response to falling behind was fantastic and they soon found themselves ahead when Ruddy's block from Nikica Jelavic's strike fell to Seamus Coleman, who converted from close range to send Carrow Road into a state of shock.

However, Norwich struck back in the 71st minute when Whittaker's miscued shot found Ricky van Wolfswinkel, who headed home brilliantly to mark his debut with a crucial goal.

Coleman almost won the match for the visitors with a superb strike from 20 yards which just missed the far post, with the Norwich supporters breathing a collective sigh of relief when the draw was confirmed.