Rafael Benitez enjoyed to a flying start to his Everton reign against Southampton.
Calamitious defending saw the visitors draw first blood as Adam Armstrong struck after Michael Keane allowed Che Adams to steal possession from him.
But the Blues responded early in the second half, when Richarlison anticipated a looping ball into the Saints’ penalty area to prod home from close range.
Benitez’s side took the lead just 12 minutes from time as Abdoulaye Doucoure unleashed a powerful effort after good work from Alex Iwobi in the build-up.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin added to Everton’s goal tally just minutes later when he converted Richarlison’s cross from the right-hand side with a low diving header.
Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:
Benitez overcomes his first challenge
Fears of a hostile reception on Rafael Benitez’s Everton bow proved unfounded.
For all the threats of acrimony since his controversial appointment earlier this summer, the Spaniard enjoyed a welcome no different to his predecessors.
But the goodwill he received upon being formally introduced to the Goodison crowd as Carlo Ancelotti’s replacement could have dissipated very quickly, too.
A smattering of boos greeted the end of a first half where the Blues returned to familiar territory with haphazard defending that gifted the visitors an unjust lead.
Previous managers would have responded by hooking one of Michael Keane or Mason Holgate, if not both, at half time for committing their backline blunders.
Benitez, however, stuck to his principles and made only incremental tweaks at the interval with the focus on switching positions rather than the personnel.
As a result, Everton’s play in the final third benefited from the changes as much as their defending, with more purposeful attacks at the heart of this comeback.
Winning over a Goodison faithful is the first of many challenges Benitez needed to negotiate urgently. Keeping them onside is a very different matter altogether.
Producing more dynamic performances for the full 90 minutes – not 45 – will make that task an easier one for the one-time Liverpool boss to overcome.
Richarlison still the gold standard
Benitez’s positional switch paid off handsomely for one player in particular.
A week on from clinching a gold medal at the Olympics, Richarlison found himself again commanding the spotlight as he moved into a more familiar central role.
The Brazil international could be forgiven for needing to rest up, having helped his country reach the Copa America final as well as the Tokyo showpiece.
Yet Richarlison clearly relished playing in front of Goodison’s adoring masses for the first time in over 17 months as he produced a man of the match display.
His first-time hit to draw level was not the game’s most spectacular finish – that belonged to Abdoulaye Doucoure – but it highlighted the 24-year-old’s sharpness.
Anticipating the ball’s trajectory from Andros Towsend’s looping header into the penalty area proved that he is still sharp in mind as much as his body appears.
An assist for Dominic Calvert-Lewin that assured victory followed a similar theme with a pinpoint delivery for his partner in crime to meet with a diving header.
Class really is permanent for a player who is unquestionably the gold standard.
Goodison can be a catalyst again
Few Premier League stadia encapsulated the oft-repeated mantra at the height of the pandemic that ‘football without fans is nothing’ greater than Goodison.
Everton’s dismal home form last term, with a record-equalling nine defeats in the top flight, can be pinpointed almost exclusively to the absence of supporters.
Aside from a handful of games at reduced capacity both last year and at the end of May, they have sorely missed the Grand Old Lady as an unmistakable bear pit.
That all changed on Saturday afternoon as Goodison’s trademark roar returned with a vengeance to greet the opening strands of Z-Cars with unbridled passion.
Benitez already knows first-hand just how uncomfortable and intimidating the famous old ground can be for those regularly on the receiving end of its wrath.
If he can successfully feed off that, it could be a catalyst in Everton’s season.