Everton’s unbeaten Premier League run ended against Manchester United.
Alex Iwobi handed Frank Lampard’s side an early lead with a stunning curling effort after Amadou Onana dispossessed Casemiro deep inside United’s half.
But the Blues were drawn level less than 10 minutes later as Idrissa Gueye’s miscontrol allowed Antony to burst through and fire past Jordan Pickford.
Matters worsened shortly before half-time as Iwobi was caught out in a move which culminated in substitute Cristiano Ronaldo putting the visitors ahead.
Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:
Carelessness costs the Blues dear
It was only a matter of time before Everton’s unbeaten run came to an end.
Even so, this defeat to Manchester United felt unbecoming of the strides which Frank Lampard’s side had made at the start of this new campaign.
The resilience that saw them heading into Sunday’s clash boasting the Premier League’s most watertight defence was conspicuous by its absence.
Careless mistakes had helped Alex Iwobi power the Blues into an early lead but those same blunders were soon the architect of their own downfall.
Iwobi himself was caught out for Cristiano Ronaldo’s 700th club career goal while Idrissa Gueye’s equally sloppy possession gifted United their equaliser.
Gueye’s error proved more costly as it allowed the visitors to gain a foothold in the game which they never looked like grasping in the opening 15 minutes.
A broken seven-game streak should not detract from Everton’s progress since losing to Aston Villa in August, yet this showed there is still a long way to go.
Goodison still has Lampard’s back
The Gwladys Street’s post-match reaction to witnessing its team’s first reversal since Chelsea’s visit on the opening day was an incredibly telling one.
A temptation to respond with raw invective would have been too great for many of its deflated Evertonians to resist under Lampard’s predecessors.
Had it occurred 12 months ago, the outpouring would have undoubtedly been toxic due a holy trinity of fans, players and manager being heavily misaligned.
This time around, however, their response was a mix of support and defiance as chants of ‘Everton’ began to drift down from the famous old terrace.
Lampard’s ability to unify a previously fractured fan base is firmly at odds with his previous touting as the first managerial casualty of the new campaign.
Two months in and three sackings have already occurred in dugouts across the English top flight, with none of them happening at the Grand Old Lady.
The former midfielder’s refusal to sugarcoat the task ahead continued to stand him and the club in good stead after their first genuine setback.
Fans showed again that they are more willing to roll with this approach than an unhealthy diet of false dawns served up by previous Everton managers.
DCL’s return is perfectly timed
Everton’s fortunes are intrinsically linked to Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s fitness.
Whenever the England international is available, the sky appears the limit but the second he is sidelined their season is suddenly left hanging by a thread.
Never was that truer than the memorable night when Calvert-Lewin scored the goal which preserved their Premier League status against Crystal Palace.
A first outing since sending Goodison into genuine rapture, five months ago, could not have been better timed as his side chased the game late on here.
Calvert-Lewin’s cameo stretched to only a quarter of an hour yet it showcased attributes that have been sorely lacking during his various bouts of absence.
For all Neal Maupay and Salomon Rondon’s best efforts, they cannot replicate the presence which the 25-year-old offers as an archetypal target man.
Only time will tell whether Everton’s cautious rehabilitation programme has finally banished Calvert-Lewin’s perennial battle with the treatment table.
His return may only be the first step but a perfectly timed one nonetheless.