Wayne Rooney came off the bench to give Everton a hard fought victory over Birmingham City.
The young striker fired home in the 62nd minute after replacing Lee Carsley at half time.
Playing wide on the right Rooney ripped through Birmingham at ease and provided the vital difference to separate these two sides.
His goal came after he stole the ball from City substitute Aliou Cisse on the halfway line and stormed down the pitch.
The attack floundered, but the resulting corner was swung into the box by Gary Naysmith and fell to Rooney, who knew exactly where the goal was and, without looking, smashed the ball into the back of the net.
A minute later the England star nearly doubled his tally when Tomasz Radzinski spotted him running into space on the right and crossed.
Rooney collected the ball and launched a cracking goal bound shot but was denied by an excellent save from Maik Taylor.
Everton thought they had made a dream start when Duncan Ferguson headed home with just one minute on the clock, but referee Rob Styles judged the Scot offside, and for the next 45 minutes the teams were all square.
The two sides battled hard but, with both managers favouring a fast paced game, they cancelled each other out and the forwards were left feeding on scraps.
Thomas Gravesen came closest for the home side, with a screaming 30-yard shot that flew just over the bar, while for the visitors Bryan Hughes had their only real effort, beating two men in the box before his shot was blocked by Tony Hibbert.
But with Rooney on the bench Everton had an ace up their sleeve and boss David Moyes played it at precisely at the right time.