West Ham United and Everton could not be separated by 180 see-sawing minutes, extra-time or even 18 penalties and so a place in the FA Cup fourth round came down to just two goalkeepers.
Head-to-head, like two gladiators, and after all their permitted outfield team-mates had taken penalties, Everton's Joel Robles smashed his effort against the cross-bar. Adrian, the West Ham goalkeeper, then theatrically discarded his gloves and calmly side-footed his finish past Robles.
West Ham were through, 9-8 on penalties, after last week's dramatic 1-1 draw was surpassed for theatre by a replay that had also finished 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes and then 2-2 after extra-time. A raucous Bobby Moore Stand can rarely have seen anything quite like it.
There was even the bizarre sight of two West Ham team-mates, Mark Noble and James Tomkins, having to be separated by Kevin Nolan after an extra-time row. Half-an-hour later and they were both joining a mass of ecstatic West Ham bodies celebrating this most extraordinary win and the prospect of a trip to Bristol City in the next round.
“Handbags,” said West Ham Sam Allardyce of the spat between his players. “I've no idea what it was about but there will be no hangovers after we have won.”
Both teams must have thought they were through at various moments of this match. Having scored a 91st-minute equaliser last week, Everton had gone down to 10-men following the dismissal of Aiden McGeady and were actually trailing 1-0 last night when Kevin Mirallas forced extra-time with an 82nd-minute free-kick.
They then somehow even edged ahead through Romelu Lukaku before Carlton Cole, exactly 100 seconds after being introduced as a substitute, shinned West Ham's own equaliser and ensured penalties.
It had again appeared that Everton were out when Steven Naismith missed their second penalty of the shootout but then Stewart Downing spurned another chance to put West Ham through. One by one, the remaining outfield players scored.
As Everton were down to 10 men, West Ham had to nominate one outfield player to opt out of taking a penalty. Tomkins was excused and the goalkeepers stepped forward to put the final full-stop on this tie.
“Fantastic – it had absolutely everything,” said Allardyce. “It was unbelievable. It's a long time since I've experienced such highs and lows and such excitement. It was end to end from both teams but I think we got what we deserved based on the opportunities we created.”
Roberto Martínez, naturally, disagreed, citing the spirit of his players in salvaging a draw after almost losing the first leg and then going to within seven minutes of actually snatching victory from the very jaws of defeat. The bottom line, though, is that Everton are out at this stage of the FA Cup for the first time since 2007 and also still winless in domestic competition since November.
“I thought the performance was terrific,” said Martínez. “The picture is the fans at the end, over 3,000, giving a standing ovation to the players. As a football team you face adversity. The character we showed today is a platform we’ll build on for the second half of season.”
There had earlier been no half measures in team selection, with both Allardyce and Martínez selecting what were virtually their first-choice starting XIs. The initial approach of the players also reflected a sense that the FA Cup was a genuine priority for two clubs who regard European football next season as their target.
The pattern of the match soon settled. Everton generally controlled possession but were struggling to find holes in West Ham's well-drilled defence while Allardyce's team – wearing their special purple FA Cup kit – carried the greater threat whenever they surged forward. There was also a great variety to their play, whether by sometimes going direct through Andy Carroll or utilising the pace of Enner Valencia, the passing qualities of Alex Song and Downing or the crossing of Matt Jarvis.
They finally took a deserved lead early in the second half when Carroll stepped into space between Everton's defence and midfield. His angled pass allowed Valencia to run at Everton's back four and, as had been the case all night, he easily had the beating of John Stones for pace. A precise finish was still required but he calmly directed his shot back across Robles and inside the far post.
Within minutes, Everton were also behind numerically. McGeady had already been cautioned in the first half for a tackle on Jarvis and inexplicably then slid into a high challenge with Noble. Referee Neil Swarbrick had no real option but to administer a second yellow and then a red, even if Martínez felt the first caution had been “soft”.
West Ham then had chances to settle the tie. James Collins' header forced one especially brilliant save by Robles.
But Martínez brought on Mirallas and Bryan Oviedo in an attempt to somehow add some cutting edge to his team and his substitutions changed the game. After Lukaku had charged down an attempted clearance, Mirallas appeared to have the goal at his mercy only for Tomkins to produce a goal-saving block.
The momentum, though, had swung to Everton by the time they won a free-kick on the edge of West Ham's penalty area. Mirallas stood over the ball and brilliantly curled his effort both over the wall and then down into the top left-hand corner.
West Ham had been overly passive when seemingly in full control and Everton's equaliser sparked a late flurry, with Valencia and then Carroll missing chances before Kevin Nolan's hooked shot was superbly clawed to safety by Robles to take the match into extra-time.
Lukaku's goal was the first time that Everton had led in 187 minutes of end-to-end action between the two teams and the fifth match in succession that he had scored against West Ham. As he pointed to the sky, it was clear that the goal had particular poignancy following the death of his friend, Junior Malanda, in a car accident days earlier.
Everton's lead, however, was to last just 16 minutes, with Cole equalising after Tomkins' header down.
Carroll and Lukaku still each had chances to clinch the match, while Martínez was sure that Mirallas deserved a penalty before the drama of the shootout ensured.
As he departed Upton Park, Allardyce was asked to clear up the current saga with Ravel Morrison. “After all that? You must be ----ing joking,” he said. “Go home and write your story.” It had been some story.
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