Charly Alcaraz netted a late winner on his first start to inspire Everton to a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Beto continued his fine form under Toffees boss David Moyes with a 42nd-minute opener against the run of play.
That goal was cancelled out by Jean-Philippe Mateta two minutes after the restart, but Alcaraz assured the visitors of all three points 10 minutes from time.
Mateta failed to punish some sloppy work by the Toffees’ centre-halves early on when a misplaced flick from James Tarkowski then skipped past the outstretched leg of Jarrad Branthwaite.
But Mateta fired directly at keeper Jordan Pickford, who then denied Northern Ireland international Justin Devenny’s effort from distance, spilling his save.
The hosts came even closer in the 19th minute when captain Marc Guehi called Pickford back into action with a low header.
Lerma had the ball in the back of the net moments later, but a VAR check determined Devenny’s corner had drifted out of play before the Colombian nodded it in.
Everton tried to string something together and worked the ball to Jesper Lindstrom, who then attempted to square to Beto.
The threat was broken up by Palace defender Maxence Lacroix, who collided with his keeper in the process, but Dean Henderson was deemed fit to continue after treatment.
It was some scrappy work from Chris Richards that nearly set the home side up to take a first-half lead, clinging on to possession from his knees at the edge of Everton’s 18-yard box.
The ball made its way to Ismaila Sarr, who hammered his effort off the underside of the crossbar.
And it was a missed opportunity Palace would come to instantly regret when poor communication resulted in Tyrick Mitchell’s throw-in escaping Lerma’s awareness.
Alcaraz was more alert, sweeping in to nick the ball and play a pass across to Beto, who slotted in the opener.
Palace boss Oliver Glasner made two changes at the break, introducing Eberechi Eze for Devenny and Adam Wharton for Lerma.
Eze got to work early, floating in a free-kick that was nodded over by Richards.
Mateta’s equaliser soon after took an age to confirm, but it was eventually given by VAR who ruled out offside in the build-up.
It began with a Palace corner that was only half-cleared and kept alive by Wharton before Mateta was set up by Guehi with a neat overhead flick for the Frenchman to finish from six yards out.
The newly invigorated hosts threatened before Henderson denied Beto a second and Glasner swapped Mitchell for Chelsea loanee Ben Chilwell, making his first Premier League appearance in an Eagles shirt.
Daniel Munoz skipped a weak effort straight at Pickford before Chilwell latched on to a long ball from Wharton and induced a dive from the Everton keeper, though his effort’s trajectory looked wide of the target.
Palace’s inability to finish from their chances came back to haunt them again when Alcaraz found the back of the net in the 80th minute.
The Eagles failed to clear the ball from inside their penalty area, where the rebound from 79th-minute substitute Ashley Young’s cross off the chest of Will Hughes bounced favourably in the path of Alcaraz, who opened his Everton account with a low finish.
Palace staged a late surge but remain in search of just a third home Premier League win this season.
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