Everton ended a run of three defeats with a cruising win over Crystal Palace.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin opened the scoring on 11 minutes with a smart finish after turning Marc Guehi in the visitors’ defence to meet Alex Iwobi’s pass.
A second followed for Frank Lampard’s side in the second half as Anthony Gordon pounced to turn Vitalii Mykolenko’s parried effort into an empty net.
Substitute Dwight McNeil swept home a third just five minutes from time from a one-two with Iwobi, who teed his teammate up with a clever backheel.
The result moved the Blues up to 11th place in the Premier League table.
Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:
DCL offers Southgate food for thought
Gareth Southgate picked the perfect afternoon to take in an Everton game.
The England manager made a semi-regular visit to Merseyside to check in on several of his World Cup hopefuls ahead of naming the final squad for Qatar.
Southgate has already submitted his provisional 55-man squad to FIFA but the potential omission of Dominic Calvert-Lewin would be a head-scratcher.
A first goal since his match-winning header against Palace last May underlined the attributes which would be useful assets for the Three Lions this winter.
Not only did Calvert-Lewin open the scoring here but he also engineered it by hounding Luka Milivojevic to steal possession and set Amadou Onana away.
Thereon, the 25-year-old received Alex Iwobi’s return pass and lay waste to fellow England hopeful Marc Guehi before firing low into the Gwladys Street’s net.
It may all prove in vain, with the provisional squad expected to be kept under wraps until shortly after the World Cup-enforced break on November 13.
Should Calvert-Lewin remain fit and firing in Everton’s next three league games, however, Southgate may have just been given food for thought.
‘Spirit of the Blues’ finally rekindled
Crystal Palace’s latest visit to Goodison Park invariably brought memories of the beautiful madness that was May 19 flooding back for many supporters.
How could it not?
Everton sealed their Premier League survival that night, with ‘Spirit of the Blues’ ringing out at the final whistle to herald a much-needed home win.
The terrace anthem had a different feel when its opening riff was played over after Frank Lampard’s side racked up another, almost five months to the day.
Another showdown with the Eagles carried near-equal importance to the end of last season, with the hosts on a run of three successive league defeats.
The rot has set in after far less results and questions of Lampard’s leadership qualities were beginning to be asked, albeit still in relatively hushed tones.
But the Blues often thrive whenever their backs are against the wall and three goals without reply was as close to an endorsement as their manager can get.
A performance of this magnitude has always been in the works for Lampard’s charges; they just didn’t know on what given day it would all fall into place.
Captain Coleman still going strong
Seamus Coleman’s dependibility has often been taken for granted at Everton.
Always willing and able to perform his duty as both right-back and captain, the Republic of Ireland international is still something of an unsung hero.
Exactly 13 years since making his debut for the club, Coleman provided a timely reminder with a performance which continued to roll back the years.
Palace struggled to find a way past the 34-year-old for large parts of this game, with Wilfried Zaha cutting a particularly frustrated figure on that front.
The Ivory Coast international’s frustrations began to manifest over time as he sparked a mass brawl by upending Anthony Gordon during the second half.
Coleman continued to up the ante until the very last second, notably sending his opposite number sprawling late in stoppage time after stealing possession.
Evertonians have few prerequisites when watching anyone privileged enough to pull on a royal blue shirt and chief among them is a basic show of heart.
Their captain’s continued take-no-prisoners approach illustrates why he remains a highly valuable commodity even in the twilight years of his career.