The game had it all, with three disallowed goals, but referee Peter Walton's dubious decisions kept the crowd involved until the final whistle.
From the outset the Goodison faithful made on-loan Liverpool striker Florent Sinama Pongolle's short travel uncomfortable by booing his every touch.
But the plucky French striker revelled in the attention and broke Everton's defence early.
Winning a loose ball on the touchline, he proved his pace when he slipped past Tony Hibbert and charged toward the goal. But his square pass to Steven Reid was met too heavily and sailed over the bar.
Blackburn's early dominance was short lived as Everton showed their mettle on the counter-attack.
The Toffees had a goal ruled out for offside after James Beattie controlled a lofty pass on the edge of the area with his chest, leaving goalkeeper Brad Friedel stranded.
But he selflessly let Leon Osman run onto the ball and he took it out of Friedel's flailing arms, only to have is celebration cut short by the linesman's flag.
Another Friedel calamity, moments later, should have gifted Everton an opener.
The American star rushed from his line to punch the ball clear but collided with Mikel Arteta. The ball bounced perfectly for James McFadden, but in his excitement he launched a rocket shot which ricocheted off the crossbar and out of play.
Everton sensed blood and threw everything into the task, but in turn suffered their own goalkeeping blunder when Turner handled outside his area just nine minutes into his Premiership debut.
He bent down to pick up a soft pass back after not realising he had stepped too far, and tried to cover up his mistake by kicking the ball.
Referee Walton blew his whistle and after a heated debate Turner shamefully sloped off the pitch.
David Moyes acted fast and replaced the red-faced McFadden with substitute goalkeeper John Ruddy.
The 19-year-old trotted on to rapturous applause as he also celebrated his Premiership debut.
However, Rovers' satisfaction was short lived as the remaining 10 Toffees dug their heels in to produce some well-crafted play.
Tim Cahill was an inspiration going forward, linking up well with Osman.
The Toffees missed Duncan Ferguson's physical presence as the game became scrappy with Phil Neville and Hibbert both picking up yellow cards.
But Everton's determination was rewarded on 32 minutes when they won a free-kick just outside the box.
In-form Osman stepped up and floated a deft ball over Rovers' defensive wall which was met by a thunderous header from Beattie.
Friedel was left floundering as the ball hit the net to give Everton a deserved lead which the linesman could not rebuff.
The Goodison faithful made their feelings clear at half-time with a resounding chorus of jeers as the officials retreated to the tunnel.
Mark Hughes must have given his players a real dressing down during the break because they came out with renewed hunger and finally made Everton look like only 10 men.
They constantly found the open player and made the hosts fight for every ball.
The referee must have taken a liberty of booking an armoured car to take him home after disallowing a third Everton goal for offside.
Everton seemed content to sit back and defend their lead in the closing 15 minutes, with Ruddy making the most of his first appearance with a series of fine saves.
In their desperation not to lose to a reduced side, Friedel ran forward for Blackburn's final two corners.
But he failed to meet either cross and his blushes were only spared whilst running back to goal after Cahill's shot from halfway went wide.