Everton made it a hat-trick of Premier League wins against Chelsea.
Abdoulaye Doucoure broke the deadlock barely 10 minutes into the second half as he wept home the rebound after a saved Dominic Calvert-Lewin effort.
Sean Dyche’s side wrapped up another hard-fought victory in added time, when Lewis Dobbin fired his first goal for the club from a recycled corner.
Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:
Blues show what money can’t buy
Little under a decade ago, Everton sent a firm message to Chelsea.
The west Londoners sought to test Goodison Park’s resolve with an audacious trio of bids for defender John Stones during summer 2015.
Then as now, the Blues sent a resounding message to their well-heeled Premier League contemporaries that there are some things money can’t buy.
Eight years ago, it was the immediate future of Stones – now it is resilience.
Chelsea spent almost as much in the market over last summer as Farhad Moshiri has bankrolled across seven-and-a-half disastrous years at the helm.
Yet it was Sean Dyche’s side who were more composed and comfortable as they downed an opponent that are, in sporting terms, in their rear-view mirror.
Without their 10-point deduction, Everton would be sat three positions clear of their counterparts from the capital and just four points off the top five places.
Proof, were it needed, that you cannot buy your way out of trouble in football.
… but yellow peril starts to mount
A third victory in eight days, however, still has its drawbacks for Everton.
With four players in this game just one booking away from an automatic suspension, traversing the disciplinary tightrope threatened to be tricky.
Idrissa Gueye became the first casualty on that front as he picked up a fifth caution of the campaign for a foul on Enzo Fernandez during the first half.
He was later joined by Jarrad Branthwaite, who suffered an identical fate after a challenge on Armando Broja failed to find favour with referee Michael Oliver.
The defender’s absence from next weekend’s trip to Burnley, more so than Gueye, is a huge blow given the strides he has made this season thus far.
Only a knock for Ashley Young, forcing his half-time withdrawal, prevented the veteran utility man from being the third player to also be sidelined at Turf Moor
A small problem in the grander scheme but yellow peril is starting to mount.
Mykolenko embodies Dyche’s mantra
Post-match, Dyche outlined the key instructions that helped Lewis Dobbin produce his first Everton goal from the substitutes’ bench.
The young forward has needed to bide his time before producing a memorable sweeping finish to wrap up matters in front of the Park End.
‘Keep working hard, wait for your chance, stay right’ is the mantra which Dyche continues to impress on his charges when they fall out of favour.
Yet another member of his starting line-up has embodied that just as much as Simms.
Vitalii Mykolenko produced arguably his finest defensive display to date as his stats of nine recoveries, six clearances and seven successful tackles attest.
His reading of the game, too, has developed at an impressive rate as he showed when Cole Palmer tried to cheaply win a spot kick early in this game.
The winger prematurely went to ground while the Ukrainian pulled back to make only a half-challenge inside the Gwladys Street End’s penalty area.
He has not always been a firm favourite among the Goodison faithful but there is no denying that Mykolenko is now thriving in the left-back role.