Everton pulled clear of the relegation zone with a 2-1 victory at Southampton.
Tom Davies broke the deadlock with just three minutes played when he headed home at the far post after Mason Holgate flicked on a Gylfi Sigurdsson corner.
The hosts levelled shortly after the half-time interval as Danny Ings converted from close-range from Sofiane Boufal’s low ball into the Blues’ penalty area.
Another far-post move ensured Marco Silva’s side recorded a first Premier League away win of the season as Richarlison volleyed a Djibril Sidibe cross.
Here were the key talking points from St Mary’s:
Away day Blues finally singing again
It’s been a long time coming but, finally, Everton’s away-day woes are over.
Nine games, eight months and 225 days – no matter which was you cut it, Marco Silva’s side had left it far too long between racking up league wins on the road.
In his 50th Premier League game at the helm, Silva aimed to lift that burden while also ending the Blues’ spell of hovering in and around the relegation zone.
Mission accomplished for the Portuguese coach. Everton now sit in 13th, six points clear of the drop zone and three points off a previously elusive fifth spot.
Silva made no secret of his frustrations at how the recent defeat at Brighton showed moments like the late capitulation can put teams in a different position.
His Everton team are sitting far prettier now than they were a fortnight ago thanks to a spirited display against a team more under-fire than themselves.
The real Richarlison stands up
Accusations that Richarlison is a diver had plagued the run-up to this fixture.
Silva came out swinging in defence of his talisman and revealed Everton were working on ensuring that he could ‘stand as much as he can’ from opponents.
The Brazilan repaid his manager’s public show of faith by choosing to do more standing up than withstanding at St Mary’s with a vibrant attacking display.
He regularly left the hosts’ defence on the back foot and eventually scored a deserved goal to end an eight-game barren streak in the Premier League.
On the rare occasions Richarlison did go to ground, a common complaint after last weekend’s draw with Tottenham, it was not prolonged or even contentious.
More performances like this will help shift the current narrative surrounding him.
Maligned midfield silence the boo boys
Everton’s vocal minority of boo boys tend to pick on perceived easy targets.
Tom Davies and Morgan Schneiderlin know better than most how cutting the barbs of detractors within Goodison Park, as well as away from it, can be.
Both have been intermittent figures in Silva’s strongest line-ups and only circumstance forced them into a midfield pairing against Southampton.
But the maligned duo responded to the doubters in perfect fashion; Davies’ early header formed the base on which Everton built a first away win of the season.
Executing a brilliant sliding interception to prevent Cedric Soares from bearing down on Jordan Pickford’s goal later in the first half should not be overlooked.
Neither should Schneiderlin’s own largely solid performance which provided a degree of reassurance in tandemn with the 21-year-old’s tireless drive.
Only the France international’s failure to curtail Sofiane Boufal in the build-up to Southampton’s equaliser will draw inevitable scrutiny from the terrace experts.
Overall, however, Davies and Schneiderlin were able to silence their critics.
Sidibe claims Coleman’s crown
Seamus Coleman had best get used to the current picture in Everton’s defence.
The stalwart captain once became an automatic name on the team sheet but, until now, he has never faced genuine competition for the right-back position.
Djibril Sidibe again showed why Coleman will spend more time kicking his heels in games during this Premier League campaign than leading from the front.
Another all-encompassing showing from the World Cup winner saw him comfortably nullify Nathan Redmond and largely kept tabs on Moussa Djenepo.
Two of Southampton’s most potent attacking outlets could not handle Sidibe’s ability to cover all bases even when one of his teammates occasionally drops off.
That the 27-year-old also set up Richarlison for Everton’s second goal only further strengthened the case for him over Coleman for the foreseeable future.