With his first touch he stole the ball from a breaking Luka Milivojevic. With his second he flicked, delicately, the pass from Alex Iwobi around Marc Guehi. With his third he slotted his shot beyond the onrushing Vicente Guaita before wheeling away to receive the adoration of the home fans.
In just three touches Dominic Calvert-Lewin provided everything Everton and Frank Lampard have been missing throughout his tortuous absence. It was the breakthrough Everton had been seeking for so long. Not in this match, but in the wider Lampard project. And it had to come against Crystal Palace, in front of the Gwladys Street crowd - of course it did. Five months on from his last Premier League goal, which came at the same end of Goodison Park, against the same opposition, he had the same crowd receiving him with adoration. That thumping header under the Goodison lights in May is one of the most important goals in his club's modern history. The importance of this strike, after 11 minutes, may pale in significance. But in Calvert-Lewin's desire to win the ball back, and in the intricate interchanges between himself, Iwobi and Amadou Onana, it embodied so much of what Lampard wants to instill in Everton's future.
After the defeat against Newcastle United in midweek, Conor Coady said the dressing room inquest that followed focused on the need to be more assertive off the ball, more confident on it, and more ruthless when chances did come. This goal was a jigsaw in which determination, confidence and ruthlessness were all pieces of the puzzle.
