Everton suffered back-to-back Premier League losses away to Aston Villa.

Conor Coady and Amadou Onana made their debuts for Frank Lampard’s side in a game that was settled by goals in either half amid searing temperatures.

Danny Ings opened the scoring with a poacher’s finish inside the 18-yard box before Emiliano Buendia added the hosts’ second just four minutes from time.

But the Blues responded almost immediately as Onana hooked a ball to the far post which Lucas Digne turned into the net against his former employers.

Here were the key talking points from Villa Park:

Blues falling into a familiar trap

Inflexibility became symptomatic of Rafael Benitez’s joyless six-month tenure that paved the way for Frank Lampard’s ascension to the Everton hot seat.

Still, it appears that he has already failed to learn from those mistakes which accelerated his predecessor’s somewhat inevitable downfall earlier this year.

Two games into the new season, the Blues are persisting with flawed tactics and leaving it far too late to snatch respectability from the jaws of defeat.

Unlike Benitez, whose approach was as aloof as it proved uncompromising, Lampard can at least point to mitigation in trialling his new-look formation.

Yet a first touchline showdown against his former midfield adversary Steven Gerrard laid bare the problems with Everton’s current defence heavy line-up.

Only the introduction of Amadou Onana restored a sense of balance, with the debutant and Salomon Rondon providing stature to the visitors’ final third.

It still proved a fruitless endeavour despite the Belgian providing a smart assist from which Lucas Digne turned home an instant reducer for his old club.

Lampard has his work cut out if Everton are to avoid a repeat of last season’s predicament and it begins with addressing the core failings from that period.

Gordon must cut out the theatrics

Referees continue to give Anthony Gordon little benefit of doubt with fouling.

No matter how robustly Everton’s homegrown no.10 is shackled by opposition defenders, match officials find it easier to turn down often legitimate appeals.

Respect, however, is a two-way street and Gordon is currently doing himself little and Lampard’s side little favours by playing up to their preconceptions.

When Tyrone Mings sent the 21-year-old tumbling to the Villa Park turf early in the first half with a backwards shove as the pair were vying for possession.

The centre-back’s act of foul play deserved to be penalised, only for Gordon’s reaction to force Michael Oliver to take a more lenient view on the flashpoint.

Going to ground holding a different part of his head than the one that had been stricken by Mings gave rise to accusations of exaggerated contact.

There can be no dispute about Gordon’s talent, as he showed in the closing stages with an effort which Emiliano Martinez was just about equal to stop.

But incidents such as the Mings one only serve to vindicate referees, like Oliver, who wave away what should be clear-cut fouls on the winger.

Onana already prepped for take-off

As Everton bows go, Onana could not have asked for a bigger baptism of fire.

Sent on for the remaining nine minutes of normal time, Goodison Park’s latest recruit was tasked with helping his team recitify their current one-goal deficit.

Within minutes of making his debut, he had ceded possession in the build-up to substitute Emiliano Buendia doubling Villa’s advantage at a counter-attack.

Undeterred, the 20-year-old took the game actively demanded the ball before sending a cross which culminated in Digne’s own goal just moments later.

Onana appeared certain to cap off a maiden appearance in the royal blue shirt with a goal in his own right, too, as he surged towards goal in stoppage time.

Only Calum Chambers’ last-ditch intervention dened him that moment of glory in what would have been a perfect nine-minute cameo for the midfielder.

Personality and drive are traits conspicious by their absences inside Everton’s engine room over recent years, but Onana clearly has both in abundance.

More of the same in the coming weeks and Goodison will have a new hero.