Everton and Chelsea played out a nine-goal thriller at Goodison Park this afternoon, with the visitors running out 6-3 victors on Merseyside.
Diego Costa and Branislav Ivanovic both scored inside three minutes to give Chelsea the perfect start to the match, but Everton fought back and halved the deficit just before the break through Kevin Mirallas.
The second half saw an incredible flurry of five goals in 10 minutes as momentum swung back and forth, with the two teams alternating on the scoresheet.
A Seamus Coleman own goal began the rush, while Steven Naismith, Nemanja Matic, Samuel Eto'o and Ramires also found the net in quick succession.
Chelsea finally sealed the points late on when Costa grabbed his second of the match, pouncing on an error by Muhamed Besic to cap off a memorable encounter.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at a scarcely believable 90 minutes of non-stop action.
Match statistics
EVERTON
Shots: 17
On target: 7
Possession: 62%
Corners: 8
Fouls: 7
CHELSEA
Shots: 12
On target: 8
Possession: 38%
Corners: 2
Fouls: 16
Was the result fair?
It really is hard to say after a match like that. On the one hand, neither side deserved to lose having played out such an entertaining game, but Chelsea will feel that they warranted all three points from this one today.
If anyone did deserve to win it was the visitors, but the three-goal winning margin is harsh on Everton. For 87 minutes, following Chelsea's blistering start, the Toffees were every bit as threatening as their opponents and had chances to score more than the three goals that they managed.
The main difference between the sides was that Chelsea made fewer defensive errors than Everton and, while matches like this should be used as a chance to laud the attacking talent on show, there is no getting away from the fact that the home side's sluggish start and a couple of silly mistakes cost them this match. Chelsea took advantage of that ruthlessly.
Everton's performance
What does Roberto Martinez say to his side after this game? On the one hand, not many teams will score three goals past Chelsea this season, but on the other they have conceded six goals at home. It will certainly be a case of mixed emotions, although the overwhelming one will be disappointment at having lost the match.
Chelsea could well have won the game inside three minutes having come flying out of the blocks, but Everton responded brilliantly and were the better side for a decent chunk of the first half. The goal just before half time was exactly what they needed, and they came out for the second 45 minutes full of belief.
There are plenty of positives and negatives for the Toffees to take from this match, but perhaps the most pleasing thing for Martinez will be his side's character. To have conceded twice so early, and then to be pegged back immediately after having scored on two other occasions must have been hard to stomach. However, they kept fighting until the final whistle and did not make it easy for Chelsea to close out the three points.
They may even feel that they should have got something out of the match. Romelu Lukaku hit the crossbar, while Chelsea's second goal appeared to be offside. However, Martinez will know that his side need to improve defensively, as that is where they lost this game. They have now conceded 10 goals in their first three games.
Chelsea's performance
Certainly not your stereotypical Chelsea performance. After a stunning start to the match, you would have been forgiven for thinking that a Jose Mourinho side would be content to sit on a two-goal lead for the remaining 87 minutes. However, that was not the case as the visitors were drawn into an open thriller.
Defensively, they will not be happy at having conceded three goals but, in truth, there was not much that they could have done about any of them. The back line was beaten by clever movement for all three goals and, while Mourinho will undoubtedly earmark things that the defence could have done better, the Everton attackers deserve more praise than Chelsea do criticism.
Going forward, Mourinho will be delighted with what he saw. Costa continued his great start to life at the club, Eden Hazard again looked dangerous and Cesc Fabregas ran the show once more. Chelsea appear to have a superbly balanced squad at their disposal, and they have already demonstrated three different styles of victory this season.
Much like Everton, the visitors will draw positives and negatives from this result. The way that they responded to each goal against them was very impressive, ignoring a raucous home crowd to go up the other end and score immediately. No doubt they would have preferred a routine 2-0 victory, but they showed attributes in this win that Mourinho will be delighted to know that his side possess.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Branislav Ivanovic: There were a number of good performances on either side today, but Ivanovic's was the pick of the bunch. The right-back was looking to get forward whenever possible, including at the start when he produced a composed finish to score his side's second of the game.
However, despite his significant attacking threat, he never neglected his defensive duties. He was as strong and as solid as ever, and it was noticeable that Everton got a lot more joy down Chelsea's left then they did down Ivanovic's flank. He may well be the best defender in the Premier League right now.
Biggest gaffe
Although the game was all but over with Chelsea leading 5-3 going into stoppage time, Besic's error to gift the visitors a sixth goal was a shocker. Having come on a matter of seconds before, the debutant's first touch in an Everton shirt saw him flick a blind pass straight to John Obi Mikel, who went on to set Costa up. There was still plenty to do after Besic's mistake, but it was a nightmare start to his Everton career.
Referee performance
Jonathan Moss and his officials had a difficult afternoon today, and it showed. They got numerous big decisions wrong, especially the linesman, who failed to spot that Chelsea's second goal was offside and that Tim Howard handled the ball a yard outside his area moments later. He also flagged a number of players offside when they weren't, drawing the ire of the crowd. An afternoon to forget for the officials.
What next?
Everton: The international break will give Everton a chance to regroup and again look for their first win of the season against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, September 13.
Chelsea: Chelsea also play that day, taking on the other team with three wins from three as Swansea City travel to Stamford Bridge.
Barney Corkhill
