Everton slipped back into the Premier League’s relegation zone against Aston Villa.
Ollie Watkins opened the scoring for the visitors from the penalty spot after the hour mark when Idrissa Gueye brought down John McGinn in the area.
Sean Dyche’s side fell further behind in the final 10 minutes as Emiliano Buendia sidestepped Conor Coady before drilling past Jordan Pickford.
Results elsewhere coupled with the Blues’ first defeat in three home games saw them return to 18th place in the table, just one point away from safety.
Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:
Blues firmly back in basement battle
Don’t let the current one-point margin fool you – Everton’s fight to retain their Premier League status this season threatens to go right down to the wire.
Back-to-back home wins may have given the impression that Sean Dyche will comfortably preserve Goodison Park’s unbroken 69-year spell in the top flight.
But Saturday’s two-goal humbling by Aston Villa provided a necessary reality check on the Blues’ recent upturn in fortunes under their new manager.
Leeds’ win over fellow strugglers Southampton, coupled with this result, left Dyche’s side back into the bottom three for a fifth time in the last six weeks.
The reasons are increasingly self-evident, with Everton’s prolonged spells of dominance against Villa failing to amount to any meaningful efforts on goal.
One defeat does not necessarily undo the tangible progress which Dyche has overseen in his opening weeks at the helm since replacing Frank Lampard.
Make no mistake, however, this result encapsulated why Evertonians face a weekly ordeal to see if their hopes of Premier League safety become reality.
Maupay still struggling to lead the line
The identity of both of Everton’s match-winners in their victories over Arsenal and Leeds being defenders should have already set alarm bells ringing.
Still shorn of Dominic Calvert-Lewin in attack, the goal-scoring burden has fallen to Neal Maupay despite evidence suggesting he is hardly the solution.
Since opening his account against West Ham in mid-September, the French forward has failed to find the target from 17 appearances in all competitions.
Beyond his 5’6″ frame offering a less than the towering presence of Calvert-Lewin when fit, Maupay lacks other necessary attributes to lead the line.
His hesitancy in releasing the ball squandered the momentum of several potential chances in the first half as the visitors were offered a reprieve.
On the rare occasions that Maupay had a clear sight of goal, his best effort saw Emiliano Martinez tip a header from Dwight McNeil’s cross over the bar.
Last month’s failure to source a competent striker to alleviate the shortfall of Calvert-Lewin’s persistent absence through injury looks increasingly damning.
Bench deficiency underlines key failings
A cursory glance at Everton’s substitutes bench in this encounter underscored why more than just the inability to source a marksman could prove costly.
Of the nine potential in-game replacements at Dyche’s disposal were a backup goalkeeper, five defenders, one midfielder and two attacking options.
From the latter, Demarai Gray represented the more viable candidate to inject fresh ideas as the more senior forward player out of himself and Ellis Simms.
The Everton boss was already keeping tabs on developments at under-21 level, where James Garner and Nathan Patterson made recent comebacks.
Yet the dearth of frontline talent could soon mean that Reece Welch and/or Stanley Mills may again find themselves recalled to a senior matchday squad.
Such an unenviable position is one which Everton should never have been placed as the threat of demotion looms large for a second season running.
Those responsible are still unlikely to front up to their ineptitude, with the hierarchy electing to stay away from Goodison for a fourth straight game.