Christian Norgaard was dismissed for a knee-high challenge on Jordan Pickford
Everton were left frustrated in a goalless Premier League draw against Brentford, despite playing with an extra man for the second half.
Sean Dyche's side have lost just once in eight top-flight games, but that statistic does not tell the entire story as they have also won just twice this term and are three points above the relegation zone.
This was a huge missed opportunity for Everton to pull away from trouble.
The home side were in the ascendancy in the first half but had nothing to show for it as Dominic Calvert-Lewin's flicked effort was pushed away by Mark Flekken's superb instinctive save, before the visiting goalkeeper made a block from the Everton striker's drive towards the near post.
Brentford should have taken the lead against the run of play when the in-form Yoane Wissa ran through on goal, but the striker was denied by Jordan Pickford's outstretched leg.
Thomas Frank's visitors were then reduced to 10 men shortly before the break following Christian Norgaard's knee-high challenge on Pickford.
Referee Chris Kavanagh produced a red card having watched a replay of the incident on the pitchside monitor.
The Toffees tried to make their extra man count in the second period but never really looked like scoring, with Idrissa Gueye seeing a vicious, swerving strike palmed away by Flekken while Vitaliy Mykolenko somehow missed the target from six yards out.
Brentford could have nicked it but Keane Lewis-Potter struck straight at Pickford from a promising position, as Frank's men collected their first point on the road this season to move up to 10th place.
Lack of goals hurting Toffees
Everton's mentality stayed 'strong' - Sean Dyche
Everton's treacherous run of fixtures in December sees them face Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City and they would have wanted to head into that sequence of games in some sort of form.
But instead, Dyche's goal-shy team lack that killer instinct, entering that make-or-break period having not scored in their past three games and now failing to find the net in half of their 12 league matches this season.
The out-of-form Calvert-Lewin looks bereft of any confidence and extended his barren run in front of goal to eight games, while the returning Dwight McNeil should have done better when he sliced through the centre of the Brentford defence but screwed wide from the centre of the box.
Substitute Beto nearly won it for the hosts four minutes into stoppage time when Iliman Ndiaye's knockdown fell to him eight yards out, but a low shot was brilliantly blocked by centre-back Ethan Pinnock.
The Blues are competing in their final season at Goodison Park before moving to their new stadium but it is proving to be a joyless farewell at this stage, winning just one of their six home games so far.
Depleted Brentford, meanwhile, defended robustly to hold on to their first clean sheet of the season having lost their five previous league away games in 2024-25.
They head into a busy fixture period boosted by the delayed debut of £30m club-record signing Thiago, who came off the bench in the second half after suffering a knee injury during pre-season.
The game has changed if that is a red card - Thomas Frank
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