Everton have moved back into second place in the Premier League table after beating Middlesbrough 3-1 at Goodison Park this evening.
The Toffees made a slow start to the match and found themselves behind a quarter of the way through but, led by Gareth Barry on his 600th top-flight appearance, they soon recovered and were comfortable winners in the end.
It was an occasion to remember for the England international, at a key moment in the match, seeing him join Frank Lampard (609) and Ryan Giggs (632) in hitting the landmark figure.
Ronald Koeman has yet to taste defeat as Everton boss, with this latest victory making it the best start to a league season for his side in nearly four decades.
An action-packed first half got off to a slow start, with the first shot on target not arriving until 17 minutes in when Gaston Ramirez - in for the injured Christian Stuani - tested Maarten Stekelenburg with a rather tame attempt.
It was Boro who were looking the more composed side, but Everton soon grew into the match as both Ross Barkley and Kevin Mirallas saw shots down the middle kept out by Victor Valdes.
Despite Everton finally wrestling back control of the game, it was their opponents who edged in front 21 minutes in when, in controversial circumstances, a cross from the left looked to be headed home by Alvaro Negredo from five yards out.
Home fans were unhappy that the goal stood, claiming that Negredo challenged Stekelenburg when he had two hands on the ball, although replays showed that the contact was fair and it was actually the Dutchman who made the final touch on the ball before it crossed the line for an unfortunate own goal.
That would not be the last of the talking points, either, as just three minutes later the Toffees were level when man of the moment Barry thumped home at the back post on his landmark appearance to spark Goodison Park back into life.
Again, the referee was questioned due to a high foot from Ashley Williams in the build-up, which prevented Valdes from collecting the ball before Barry could pick out the net.
Boro faded badly as the half wore on, struggling to put together any real attacking moves, and it was instead the unbeaten Toffees who were on top as both Barkley and Yannick Bolasie came close to finding a third goal of the evening.
Everton's second of the contest would arrive soon after thanks to a fine Seamus Coleman strike, coming after the Irishman weaved his way into the box and picked the only spot that Valdes could not reach at full stretch.
There was still time for Bolasie to add his name to the first-half scoresheet, with his cross going all the way through and finding the net, although this was the third goal to have a question mark over it as Lukaku claimed that he made minimal contact to help it past Valdes and was indeed credited with the goal.
Boro, still without a second-half goal in the Premier League this season, could have fallen even further behind after Barkley latched on to a pass in the box and fired across goal for Valdes to produce his latest save.
There was a slight blemish on an otherwise positive evening for the hosts when Lukaku left the field after picking up a knock shortly after the hour to be replaced by debutant Enner Valencia.
In stark contrast to the opening 45 minutes the second half never got going, with no more further attempts arriving in the remaining time.
Boro, now without a win in four games in all competitions, were hugely underwhelming in a flat conclusion to the match to make it just the one win in 12 meetings against their opponents.
Daniel Lewis
