It was another bare to the bones side and another defeat, but this more than any of the previous defeats had something there, a fight, a spirit, an ability to not be overrun and therefore a hope that the end of the nightmare winless run is in sight.
The first shock of the night was that Fraser Forster was preferred in goal to Alex McCarthy, manager Ralph Hasenhuttl dressed it up as an opportunity to give Forster some practice before he comes in for the FA Cup game at Bournemouth, but with that still almost three weeks away and with another couple of game after this one to go, that excuse didn't seem to hold much water.
The truth is that when you are in a losing streak you have to try different things to break that run and with so many outfield players in injured this was just about the only option he had left.
This was going to be a game where Everton showed their top 4 credentials and there were some on social media ahead of the game predicting a landslide and to be truthful for around 15 minutes or so that looked like it was being the case.
Everton have a simple formula, it is about getting the ball up to the big two of Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin and this they did in the 9th minute, the goalkeeper pumped the ball forward and we were a goal down.
We struggled to get to grips with the home sides direct game as they looked to pumped it forward and also win free kicks to put the ball into the box, they scored a second but VAR showed that it wasn't even a close call and it was chalked off.
But in that moment something changed, Saints seemed to get their confidence back, yes they weren't getting forward much at this stage, but they started to pass the ball and look comfortable in doing it.
We seemed to have realised that actually Everton weren't very good, we stopped being scared of them and took them on.
Everton were still a danger, but we were starting to deal with the aerial threat although at set pieces our marking was not all it should have been.
Just before the break we had a decent chance and Calvert-Lewin was forced into a diving header to block for a corner, the commentators claimed that our first shot on target was in the dying minutes, but if this wasn't a shot on target, blocked only yards from the line I don't know what was.
The second half saw Saints come out if not all guns blazing at least with confidence and we looked the better side, as the game went on we started to dominate possession and when Nathan Tella replaced Salisu just after the hour and we changed shape a little we looked the side most likely to get the second goal of the game.
That nearly came when Moussa Djenepo was put through but sadly he blazed wide from a good position.
There was a late finale as Saints got a succession of corners, from one they had a goalmouth scramble in which two shots were blocked close in before the ball fell to Jannik Vestergaard, he seemed to lose his footing and his shot was not as hard as it could have been and Pickford scrambled it away for a corner, this was claimed to be our only effort on target, but if that was the case, what were the two efforts blocked only seconds earlier.
Everton held on with Pickford flapping at several corners in the dying minute, but although this was another defeat it felt different from the previous ones, it felt like something was back in the side, a new found confidence and energy lacking in previous games.
This was still a defeat though, but after a run such as the one that we are having, it is not as easy as just clicking the fingers and everything is ok again, we had to draw a line in the sand and this could be it.
Not everything was perfect though, I have always been a supporter of Nathan Redmond, but this was his worst game in a Saints short in a long time, he was weak in the tackle, his passing was poor and he lost the ball too many times, he should have been off a lot earlier than he was.
What kept us going was the centre of midfield, James Ward Prowse did what he always does and Stuart Armstrong deputising for Oriol Romeu had a glorious game, strong in the tackle and with some surging runs.
Moussa Djenepo should also get a mention in despatches, he worked hard in getting up and down and did some good work at both ends of the pitch.
This result means nothing now, the line has been drawn, hopefully we will now have some of the injured players returning to the side, Ibrihama Diallo is expected to return soon as is Kyle Walker Peters, two key player in two key positions that will redress the balance of the side.
Also the return of Minamino to the squad will be a boost.
So it is not about the past now, it is about the future, and that starts at Bramall Lane on Saturday, Sheffield United are all but down now, it will be a few weeks before that is mathematically confirmed and they are still battling, but truth is they are not up to the task, we have to go up there and win well.
If we do that whispers of relegation will quickly go away, we only need two more wins to virtually guarantee safety, it would be nice if they could be achieved at the Blades and then at home to Brighton, then we could go into the FA Cup quarter final at Bournemouth with not only confidence but also the freedom to play without fear.