West Bromwich Albion 0-0 Everton

West Brom have not won a Premier League game since 19 August - a 1-0 victory at Burnley

West Brom's winless run stretched to 18 Premier League matches as they missed the best chances in a goalless draw at home to Everton.

Salomon Rondon and Craig Dawson both failed to hit the target from inside the six-yard box as the Baggies started strongly but could not find the net.

Toffees winger Yannick Bolasie played for the first time in over a year as he returned from a knee ligament injury, but he was unable to inspire his disappointing side before being substituted after an hour.

Everton produced their first shot on target five minutes after half-time and had to survive a further wave of West Brom pressure to avoid defeat and remain unbeaten in their six league games since Sam Allarydce was appointed manager.

Rondon slipped and injured himself when shooting from inside the box - he was replaced by Hal Robson-Kanu - Kieran Gibbs badly scuffed a first-time effort and Matt Phillips ballooned a close-range free-kick way over the bar with six minutes left.

Alan Pardew's West Brom stay 19th in the table, while Everton remain ninth.

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Two managers, two stories

Allardyce and Pardew took charge of their respective teams for the first time on the same day - 2 December - and have now each had six matches to show their influence.

Pardew's biggest problem was clear to see. Despite conjuring 17 attempts on goal, West Brom only hit the target three times. Their 14 goals from 20 matches this season is the league's second-worst return - only Swansea have scored fewer.

The Baggies have not won a league match since 19 August - a 1-0 victory at Burnley. It is the worst streak in the division since Aston Villa failed to win in 19 game between August 2015 and January 2016.

By contrast, Sam Allardyce's first five games in charge of Everton make for rather different reading; the Toffees are yet to lose under the former England boss, winning three times and drawing three.

They were far from their best at the Hawthorns and were lucky to come away with a point - but had Oumar Niasse beaten Ben Foster at his near post in the 89th minute they might have stolen all three.

Niasse drove low straight into Foster, who also gathered the substitute's follow-up to preserve one point for his beleaguered side.

Bolasie is back

Among the three changes made by Allardyce after Saturday's 0-0 draw with Chelsea was a first appearance for Bolasie since the knee injury he suffered on 4 December 2016 - 387 days ago.

The DR Congo winger has had two operations since then and finally had the chance to impress on what was just his 16th appearance for the club since a £25m move from Crystal Palace in the summer of 2016.

Everton's best chance did not come until long after he was replaced - Niasse's late shot - but he was still his side's brightest player in an otherwise dim team performance.

In the first half he was energetic, continuously demanding to have the ball as he looked to contribute as much as possible. Allarydce will surely be more than happy to take point - and just as happy about Bolasie surviving the biggest step back to full fitness.

Man of the match - Chris Brunt

Even though he twice should have done better with shots from outside the box, the winger was West Brom's most impressive creative force, contributing six key passes

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'Our best 90 minutes' - what the managers said

West Brom boss Alan Pardew: "It is difficult to try understand how we have not won today but we go onto the next game. It was a sound performance and the fans were tremendous.

"We have 17 games to go. If we can play at the level we just have I will be very, very happy and we will get enough points. It was probably our best 90 minutes since I've been here."

Everton manager Sam Allardyce: "Our football was average in possession, which continues to concern me. We are building blocks in terms of being resilient but we need to be better in possession.

"We've got another point, another clean sheet and we look forward to our injured and ill players coming back so that, certainly in possession, we can get better."

Clean sheets under Allardyce - the stats

• Everton have kept four clean sheets in their six Premier League games under Allardyce - the same number they kept in their previous 23 league games.

• West Brom midfielder Gareth Barry has played in 18 league matches on Boxing Day - more than any other player in the competition.

• Barry picked up his 122nd yellow card in the Premier League - 22 more than any other player.

• Everton are unbeaten in their past six away games no 26 December in the Premier League (W3 D3).

What's next?

West Brom's next match is a 16:30 GMT kick-off at home to Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday.

Everton next play away at Bournemouth in the league on Saturday, a 15:00 kick-off.