Early winners: Frank Lampard’s Everton easing the nerves

The result was all important for #FrankLampardsEverton, but this was a performance of real substance as well.

We made the classic mistake today of failing to change the channel after the Manchester United-Southampton game had finished.

This meant we found ourselves half-watching BT Score, which is a thing you must never do even by half. Everton’s rip-roaring start to this cracking dismantling of a discombobulated Leeds led to a flurry of mentions of “Frank Lampard’s Everton”. We counted three in five minutes from Robbie Savage between the first and second goal of an excellent first 25 minutes for #FrankLampardsEverton.

We found ourselves wondering whether this is going to become a bit like the hoary old Andy Murray banter, where he’s British if he wins and Scottish if he loses. A fine win for Frank Lampard’s Everton; a grim defeat for Everton. Either way, if we’re going to be forced to notice it every time it happens from now on, then we’re going to inflict it on you as well. Sorry about that.

Early losers: Man Utd, downing tools to no end

This was very much a Frank Lampard’s Everton day. The team were excellent, and the fast start left Leeds reeling and unable to recover. Leeds’ defending can often become fraught and the combination of Lampard’s progressive selection, his players’ response to his instructions and Leeds’ corresponding slow, confused start to the game compounded by an injury to Stuart Dallas ended this game as a contest inside the first quarter of the match. It was a fairly desperate afternoon all round for Leeds, defensively all at sea and relying on the sort of desperate, last-ditch interventions that highlight full commitment to the cause but that you really would rather see not quite so much of.

It