As the realisation set in that this Blues side is not invincible, the Gwladys Street burst into a chorus of "Everton, Everton".
The players filled the box they had peppered with crosses in a desperate late attempt to avoid defeat and extend their unbeaten run to a seventh Premier League game and clapped the supporters. Then Frank Lampard gave his own applause before Dominic Calvert-Lewin, playing his first minutes under the Goodison Park lights since he scored one of the most important goals in the club's Premier League history, took his turn. All received applause back from the stands.
This was a night in which Everton lost to a side that was better than them over the course of 90 minutes. A late assault that saw Jordan Pickford leading the efforts to find a way to level was not enough to salvage a point from a Manchester United side that just about kept them at bay. David de Gea palmed away a late James Garner cross just before it reached the head of Amadou Onana, minutes after Onana had glanced a header wide.
Until that late flurry of crosses and corners and scrambled last ditch clearances an equaliser had looked unlikely. Yet such is the progress that is clear under Lampard this season, this is not a defeat that will spark panic. When Everton won this fixture in April it was a must-win game that came on the coattails of the terrible defeat at Burnley that doomed the side to a relegation battle. On Sunday night, a defeat was neither expected nor satisfactory, but it is one that provides Lampard more lessons on the process of change he is overseeing on Merseyside. Crucially, those are lessons that can be learned and applied not within chaos, such as that which engulfed his side last season, but amid the comfort of mid-table after a promising start to the campaign.
AS IT HAPPENED: Everton v Manchester United LIVE
RATINGS: Everton player ratings as Anthony Gordon and Idrissa Gueye poor in Manchester United defeat
REPORT: Frank Lampard warning must be heeded after disjointed Everton lose to Man Utd
One of the biggest positives for Lampard was the return of Calvert-Lewin, finally making his first appearance of the season following his knee injury in early August. It offered glimpses of the next stage in Lampard's project - Everton improved when they had a target man, and a player capable of holding up the ball in the final third before finding a teammate. They will be stronger for his presence.
He was unable to provide a route back into the game, however, and in truth it was the visitors who came closest to a second half goal - Marcus Rashford scoring before VAR, one of Everton's enemies of 2022 - came to the rescue and the goal was ruled out for handball. On a night that had started so brightly under the famous floodlights of the Grand Old Lady, it was another old enemy that checked the progress of Lampard's Blues - individual errors. They proved costly, particularly in the first half as Everton allowed their opponents back into the match then were unable to halt their momentum.
It had all started so well when Alex Iwobi, the player who best embodies the club's revival, curled in from the edge of the box inside the opening 10 minutes. After his assist for Dwight McNeil's match winner at Southampton last week, Lampard challenged the best player of Everton's season so far to start chipping in with goals before declaring him "one of the top midfielders in the Premier League at the moment".
Iwobi responded to that challenge and sent Goodison wild with his first goal of the campaign. As glorious as it was from the 26-year-old it was a goal built on the work of a teammate - Onana stealing the ball from Casemiro to start the move. It was the second time in the opening minutes Onana had put pressure on the former Real Madrid star as Everton refused to let the visitors settle. In the minutes that followed, United sought to hit back but were kept at bay by the blocks of James Tarkowski and the challenges of Vitalii Mykolenko and Seamus Coleman. Hopes another display of courage and resilience could lay the foundation for a match-winning piece of magic like at St Mary's and, before then, the win at home to West Ham United, were soon ended, however.
The problem that caused so much pain during the miserable months of last season returned as individual errors undermined Everton. Antony equalised by dinking the ball past an oncoming Pickford after Idrissa Gueye lost control of the ball in the middle of the pitch in the 15th minute. For the next 30 minutes, the home side toiled as United dominated possession and Everton struggled to find a foothold in the game. They were warned when Gueye lost the ball on the edge of his box to allow Christian Eriksen to force Pickford into a diving save. Another let-off came when Mykolenko lost possession - again in front of his own goal - and Bruno Fernandes scored only to see the offside flag go up due to an infringement from Ronaldo. Casemiro then headed wide after being picked out by an inch-perfect Rashford cross but, just as Everton looked set to get a much-needed opportunity to regroup at the break, Ronaldo slotted beneath Pickford after being played in by Casemiro - who had won the ball from Iwobi. The goal was enough to give the away side their win despite Everton's second half efforts.
Lampard repeatedly warned supporters to expect bumps in the road as his plot to overhaul a club that narrowly avoided relegation led to a run of six league games unbeaten and back-to-back wins. The club has now hit one and this was a performance that will require a post-mortem at Finch Farm. Yet on the final whistle the supporters showed their faith in those at the helm to learn from this 90 minutes and apply the lessons to the wider Everton project. That faith cannot be taken for granted, but there has been no suggestion it will from Lampard and the team he has around him.
READ NEXT:
'I like them' - Erik ten Hag sends Everton warning to his Manchester United players
- Frank Lampard gives Everton fitness update on Dominic Calvert-Lewin and two defenders
- Duncan Ferguson dominating Rio Ferdinand and 'Brazil in Blue' - Everton's memorable wins over Manchester United
- Frank Lampard responds to Conor Coady transfer question and notes Everton recruitment change
- 'Being honest' - Paul Scholes makes Manchester United admission ahead of Everton clash
