A fresh wave of optimism swept through Merseyside over the weekend after Everton produced a commanding performance to beat Crystal Palace 3-0.
The Toffees dominated from minute one, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin grabbing his first goal of the season inside 11 minutes. The Goodison Park faithful witnessed some champagne football for both second-half goals, with Anthony Gordon tapping home a rebound after a free-flowing move from the back before Dwight McNeil grabbed the third, slipping in Alex Iwobi to produce a genius flick back to the former Burnley man who fired home.
Victory on Saturday ended a slightly worrying three-game losing streak - albeit against difficult sides in Newcastle United, Tottenham and Manchester United - and propelled the Toffees up to a comfortable 12th. Everton's season can very much be split into clear segments, with consecutive defeats to kick off the campaign being followed by a six-match unbeaten run and then that trio of defeats.
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But what have the opposition managers of those sides who have faced Everton had to say? the ECHO have taken a look back.
Thomas Tuchel - Chelsea
Chelsea returned to Goodison just three months after last season's 1-0 defeat, managing to turn the score around thanks to Jorginho's penalty nine minutes into first-half injury-time. And, speaking back in August after the result, Thomas Tuchel was quick to acknowledge Everton's deep-lying tactic that has proved effective thus far.
"It was a very tough fixture here last season and we made one mistake and that brought Everton a goal and then we could not score," the blues boss said. "Jordan Pickford was fantastic that day and when you drive home, you don't know why it was necessary. Today it was the other way around.
"For us, it was important to get the opening goal. Everton defended very deep and if you play against the whole block with a lot of discipline and effort, it's always difficult to find the chance. You need the one-on-ones, the quick accelerations, and full belief in your game.
"There are still things to improve but with a bit of luck, the right spirit and passion, we managed to win and to start with an away win was a fantastic result."
Steven Gerrard - Aston Villa
Former Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard also revealed his side's focus on Everton's defensive shape after they beat the Toffees 2-1 at Villa Park, despite a late fightback from Lampard's side after going 2-0 down.
“What we put in this week, the quality and the goals we scored, no-one can challenge the outcome, I thought we deserved it," Gerrard told BBC Sport. “We looked a different team today. It was tough conditions for both sets of players, but they were excellent in terms of the game plan.
"We really wanted to make it about Everton's back three, and both goals have come off that. A ball down the side of the centre-halves for the first goal with a great swivel and finish from Danny Ings. And then another regain and go again, Buendia's composure and the quality of the one-two with him and Ollie Watkins was outstanding."
Steve Cooper - Nottingham Forest
There was late drama again when Everton hosted Nottingham Forest, with Demarai Gray's 88th-minute finish cancelling out Brennan Johnson's opener just nine minutes prior.
Asked if he was disappointed with conceding a late equaliser, Cooper said: "Yeah that's definitely the overriding feeling. We played well enough to win the game, certainly in the second-half in how we took the game to Everton, but to go 1-0 up and concede like we did is disappointing.
“We'll definitely take belief from the game although we’re feeling a bit disappointed, but we;ve come here, we’ve been the team that's really played out from the back and tried to play in half-spaces. They've got some really good players as well and you have to be careful of giving away too much space."
Gray's finish came as a result of one of Pickford's pinpoint long balls, and Cooper admitted after the final whistle that he and his side were full aware of the goalkeeper's ability.
He added: “We know Jordan can hit a good pass from the goalkeeping situation, so we were mindful of it, with their 3-4-3 and the runs they make. As a team we’re disappointed from back to front that we conceded a goal like that.”
Thomas Frank - Brentford
The Toffees took the lead for the first time of the season at Brentford, but Thomas Frank's side came flying back and dominated much of the remaining 65 minutes, hitting the woodwork four times before Vitaly Janelt's 84th-minute leveller.
Asked if he knows how his side failed to win, Frank replied: "Nope, that will be an unknown mystery forever. I know we’re result driven, but wow what a performance. In ways, we performed better than the [Manchester] United game [a 4-0 win].
"I love my team, I think they are fantastic. The fans should be crazy proud. We produce a performance like this against a team like Everton, I think that’s remarkable. It’s a game that we should win nine out of 10 times, after creating seven good, big chances, we hit the post three times, the bar."
Jesse Marsch - Leeds United
Everton's supposed 'time-wasting' in the 1-1 draw at Leeds United infuriated Whites boss Jesse Marsch who pulled no punches after the final whistle in venting his frustration.
"Yeah that [time-wasting] was terrible. It is classic. For me, you can see when the players of Everton are kicking the ball away in the first minute of the game. It is clear they want to take the energy out of Elland Road," he told BT Sport.
"This is an entertainment business and I wish the referee had handled that bit a little better. After it was 1-1 it became entertaining, but it was too late. The referee had the chance to affect the game and did not take advantage of that."
But the American also admitted his side were 'lucky' to see Gray ruled offside for what would have been a winner: "We knew how dangerous they are on the counter. We did a good job at managing it in many moments but it only takes one the other way to make the game a little bit more difficult and put it in the balance.
"I just saw the offside goal, it was so close and really lucky that it didn't count."
Jurgen Klopp - Liverpool
Everton could have counted themselves unfortunate not to have won a thrilling Merseyside derby, with Conor Coady's goal ruled out for a tight offside and several chances missed. And Reds boss Jurgen Klopp admitted as much after the result and praised Pickford again for a string of outstanding saves.
“Rule number one: if you cannot win the derby, don’t lose it," Klopp said after the game. "We could have won it today but we could have lost it in a few moments as well. If you count the amount of chances we had and the amount of chances they had we would probably have been the deserved winner."
On Pickford to TalkSPORT: “He made around about six incredible saves, three times we hit the post,” the German said. “They scored a goal which was offside, then they had the big chance for Maupay where Ali [Alisson] saves it, incredible. Then the deflected shot he saves, incredible.
He continued: “I’m scratching my head especially because of the last situation you know, when it’s that tight and to fight for each other and you have this big one in the last second, but no.
“Yes it would have been a perfect moment but it is how it is, we go from here.”
David Moyes - West Ham
Lampard's side managed to turn four consecutive draws into a crucial win at home to West Ham thanks to Neal Maupay's wonderful finish. Former Blues boss David Moyes was frustrated with the performance from his Hammers but claimed Everton didn't play well or do enough to deserve the win.
He said: “We didn’t play well and I’ve got to say I don’t think Everton played well either, it was a tight game, did we deserve to win, no, did we deserve to lose? probably no as well. They took a good opportunity and we’ve had two or three pretty half-decent ones in the end and didn’t take any of them.
“I don’t think we played well, I don’t want to talk about Everton, and we only got better after they scored the goal. Before that we just ordinary and happy to, I wouldn’t say go through the motions, but doing enough just to stay in the game at the time.
"The game was tight, I don’t think there was really much in the game to be honest."
Ralph Hasenhuttl - Southampton
And the Toffees took momentum from their win over West Ham on the road, coming back from 1-0 down to beat Southampton 2-1 at St. Mary's. The Saints has more than enough chances to score more than the once, but - as has been a theme this season - came up against an inspired Pickford.
“I think it was a very tense game from the first moment onwards with two teams who haven’t been really calm on the ball and made mistakes," Hasenhuttl said after the result. "When we were a little bit calm we had some good moments in the first half to score a goal but the decisions in and around the box were not the best ones.
"Premier League football is brutal when you don’t score, you concede and this is what happened today."
Asked if he thought it was unfortunate to face a top-class goalkeeper in such inspired form, the Southampton manager said: “You can call it unfortunate, you can call it a lack of making the best decisions around the box but yes the Premier League has some good keepers around. If you want to score, you have to do it quite proper, and we did it once – Joe’s goal was beautiful – but we had more chances than this one.”
Erik Ten Hag - Manchester United
A strong start against Manchester United had Everton on the way to a third consecutive victory, but a first-half turnaround eventually sealed three points for the Red Devils. And speaking after the result, Erik Ten Hag praised his side's character in coming to such a difficult place and keeping their cool.
"We are quickly 1-0 down but the reaction of the team is good," Ten Hag said. "One of our aims is to deal better with setbacks and stay composed. First half [we were] pressing well and it was hard for Everton to come to come into the game, we didn't allow them, happy with that.
"The ball can always come in. I think it was a goal and it was game over, but we had many more spaces we didn’t use and that is the next step.
"It is difficult here, the crowd get behind them but they were six games unbeaten and it is difficult to score against them. Happy with the result and performance."
Antonio Conte - Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham produced a controlled - if slightly toothless - performance at home to beat Everton, with Harry Kane's controversial penalty on the hour followed by a late second by Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg. And Conte praised his side for finding a solution in breaking down a resolute Blues side.
"We have to be really happy because in my opinion we played a good game, we created a lot of chances and had injuries during the game," he said in his post-match interview. "That could have created something negative but we found a right solution to the game. I liked our attitude, we started very well and had to pay attention in the first half."
"Despite the difficulty of the game, we are talking about a good opponent and despite the injuries we were able to solve the situation. That means the players are growing in many aspects. I am very proud of the players. I think our fans will enjoy this performance and we hope to continue this way."
Eddie Howe - Newcastle United
Arguably one of Everton's worst performances of the season saw them beaten 1-0 at Newcastle United. Lampard's side produced just one shot on target at St James' Park and rarely troubled the Magpies, with Eddie Howe admitting his side had to show fight and commitment to beat a 'strong' Everton team.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Howe said: "The performance was very good, in a different way to how we have been at times this season. It wasn't free-flowing football, it was a very competitive game, a lot of fight in midfield, very physical. I am delighted with character shown and how we defended as a team.
"For the whole team that should give them enormous pleasure [another clean sheet], because that was a real team performance today. We defended our goal and goalkeeper very well. Everton are a strong team. They put a lot of balls into our box, a lot of direct play, and we had to deal with that."
Patrick Vieira - Crystal Palace
The three-game slump was quickly put to an end on Saturday with that brilliant 3-0 win against Palace. Patrick Vieira's side have blown hot and cold for much of the season, but were seemingly overwhelmed by a typically raucous Goodison. And, speaking after the defeat, the Palace boss admitted that Everton competed more across the pitch and were very much helped by the home support.
“We knew that the fans play a massive part in how they play the game, we were prepared for it but we didn’t perform today," Vieira said. "It was no performance from us. It was bad. We didn’t play. We didn’t compete and we made it easy for Everton.
"We let ourselves down because we did not compete against Everton. They won all the first and second balls, they played to compete and we were second best in every department of the game and in the end we got what we deserved.”
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