A goal apiece in both halves for both Leeds United and West Ham meant that the points were split at Elland Road.
Coming into the contest on the back of five consecutive Premier League defeats and with the pressure mounting on David Moyes, his potential future at the club took a seemingly critical hit after William Gnonto's accurate, powerful strike, midway through the first half.
Subsequently, Moyes' team showed great spirit, as goals from Lucas Paqueta and Gianluca Scamacca had The Hammers ahead, just after the start of the second half.
However, a 70th-minute equaliser from Rodrigo and a succession of late chances for the hosts leaves West Ham and their manager with the pressure only partially lifted off themselves, if at all. Only goal difference keeps them above 18th placed Everton.
Jesse Marsch's team remain just two points ahead of West Ham, with one less game played, in 14th place.
Story of the match
A couple of changes for the hosts saw Crysencio Summerville and Marc Roca came into the 11, in the places of Adam Forhsaw and Jack Harrison.
There were more substantial changes within the West Ham team. From their defeat against Brentford, Thilo Kehrer, Nayef Aguerd, Tomas Soucek and Pablo Fornals started this evening. They replaced Aaron Cresswell, Angelo Ogbonna, Emerson Palmieri and Said Benrahma.
A fairly even start to the game did not see any clear-cut chances for either side, early on.
The highlight of the opening stages was a high challenge from Rodrigo on Declan Rice. The Leeds forward may have been slightly fortunate to escape harsher consequences than the subsequent yellow card, after he caused some fairly strong contact with his foot and Rice's ear.
Paqueta produced a few intricate, smart passes, reflecting the brief spell of fluidity with which West Ham had played, following the opening ten minutes.
However, that period was fairly short lived, as Leeds were able to even out the flow of the contest and, eventually, be the team to take the lead.
After 27 minutes, a one-two between Gnonto and Summerville led to the former receiving the ball in a central position and hammering home a powerful, low strike into the corner of Lukasz Fabianski's net.
Soon after the restart, Gnonto had a half-chance to double his own and his team's tally. The Italian's volley did not have as much power behind it, as his previous, successful effort.
The goal seemed to give the hosts a boost in confidence. Brenden Aaronson's half-volley, from a second ball dropping from a Leeds corner, was miscued and fired over from a dangerous position.
From the visitors' point of view, an ambitious, first-time effort from Vladimir Coufal was one of their best chances of an equaliser. Their unexpected confidence of the early parts of the game had disappeared and after conceding the opening goal, it seemed West Ham were destined for their awful run of form to continue.
Instead, just prior to half-time, a puzzling decision by David Coote to not award West Ham a penalty was rightfully overturned, following his review of the incident on the pitch-side monitor.
Paqueta braved the responsibility to take the spot-kick. He coolly slotted away the penalty into the corner. Ilan Meslier, even after guessing the right direction, was beaten by the precise effort.
A disappointing end to the first half then swiftly extended into the start of the second period for Leeds.
Just 49 seconds after the restart, a loose pass from Aaronson meant that he can be 'credited' with the assist for a fantastic Scamacca finish. The forward produced a low, whipped effort from outside of the box, which snuck into the back of the hosts' net, after a touch off the far post.
After the dramatic start to the second half, both teams battled to build up some momentum for the rest of the game.
Immediately following their second goal, a further positive period for West Ham was underlined by a few attempts at goal from Fornals. Neither of these had any kind of power or accuracy behind them, however.
Like they did in the first half, the hosts were then able to regain a foothold in the contest. A header from Liam Cooper, following a Leeds set-piece and a snap-shot from Rodrigo, shortly after, caused some mild concern for The Hammers' backline.
As the game approached and crossed the hour mark, the tension continued to build amongst both sets of players. Challenges by Paqueta on Summerville and then the aforementioned Dutchman's on Coufal invited both teams to passionately express their contrasting views of the incidents to each other.
After 70 minutes, another goal was a fitting addition to the excitement of this contest.
A fairly simple, but neat bit of build-up play saw the hosts work the ball through to Rodrigo for an effort at goal, a similar distance from which he had his earlier snap-shot. This time, his fizzing, low strike was on target and good enough to beat the keeper, drawing his team back level.
The Spanish forward shortly had a brilliant chance to put his team in front. After a perfect through ball from deep, Rodrigo found himself with plenty of time to prepare and unleash a powerful effort, which was heading for the roof of the visitors' goal. A fantastic save from Fabianski ensured the score stayed at 2-2.
An even bigger chance for the hosts went begging, as the game approached its five minutes of added time. From a Leeds corner, Cooper's header seemed destined to find the back of the net, only for Michail Antonio to block the effort on the line. The ball fell back to the centre-back, who rushed his subsequent attempt, which he fired over the bar, from close range.
Another huge opportunity for the hosts came in the last of the added minutes. A close-range header from Rodrigo was, once again, excellently kept out by the experienced, Polish keeper.
As such, Leeds' late surge for a winner proved unfruitful. The visitors held out for a 2-2 draw - the conclusion of an exciting evening of football at Elland Road.
Player of the match - Lucas Paqueta
The Brazilian's time at West Ham has, so far, been a frustrating one.
Since his summer move from Lyon and the unprecedented levels of excitement it caused amongst his new club's fanbase, Paqueta has not been able to go beyond showing flashes and glimpses of his clear quality.
Tonight, the midfielder looked technically and creatively a class apart from everyone on the pitch. His intricate through balls and bits of footwork were not only flashy, but also effective.
To top the evening off, he also earned his first West Ham goal, from the penalty spot.