First blood went to Steven Gerrard in his managerial rivalry with old England team-mate Frank Lampard but he had the recalled Tyrone Mings to thank for securing Aston Villa’s first win of the season.
With time slipping away and Villa 2-1 up, Everton substitute Salomon Rondon looked certain to equalise, only for Mings – stripped of the captaincy and then dropped by Gerrard last week – to lunge in and stop him.
A largely drab match looked to have been settled by goals in either half from Danny Ings and substitute Emi Buendia. But following Lucas Digne’s own goal two minutes from time, the match sprung crazily into life, as both sides forgot about defending and created several chances to score.