Everton let slip another two-goal lead and slumped to a fourth successive defeat to start the season, with Jhon Duran stepping off the bench for Aston Villa to plunge in the dagger with a stunning winner.

The Blues were on course for a first Premier League victory at Villa Park in 8½ years when goals by Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin put them 2-0 up inside half an hour.

However, their glaring defensive frailties, exacerbated by the loss of Vitalii Mykolenko in the first half, and suspect game-management were cruelly exposed for a second successive match as Ollie Watkins wiped out their previous advantage and Duran grabbed the headlines with a "worldie" from distance.

Meanwhile Calvert-Lewin wasted a pair of gilt-edged chances to earn his team something from the contest.

Having overseen the capitulation against Bournemouth before the international break, Sean Dyche was charged with lifting his players and instilling some resolve into their make-up but their passive approach in the early stages of this match did not hint at the drama to come.

He was forced to make one change, bringing veteran Ashley Young into the starting XI because of injury to Seamus Coleman, but watched his charges allow Villa to dominate the first quarter of an hour and almost go behind as a result.

Iliman Ndiaye had to block Ollie Watkins's goal-bound header on the line following a corner and when, in a sign of things to come, Lucas Digne stole in behind Young and Jack Harrison down Everton's right, the England striker could only guide a prodded effort wide.

Much of the pre-match narrative had surrounded the reunions of various players with their former clubs, mostly notably Amadou Onana's first game against the Blues but it was the Belgian midfielder who was robbed by McNeil as Everton plundered the lead completely against the of play.

McNeil muscled Onana off the ball before advancing into the penalty area and screwing a low shot past Emiliano Martinez and inside the far post in the 16th minute.

11 minutes later, the visitors seized a shock 2-0 lead against the newly-minted Champions League Villans after Harrison was fouled near the touchline and Calvert-Lewin nodded McNeil's pin-point free-kick beyond the goalkeeper.

James Garner had come on in place of Mykolenko with Young switching to left-back and the substitute was rurthlessly punished for being caught too narrow by Digne eight minutes before the end of the regualtion 45.

The Frenchman chipped a cross searching out Watkins who easily out-jumped Michael Keane at the back post to head home and make it 2-1 at the halfway stage.

The hosts continued their dominance of possession coming out of the interval and came close to erasing Everton's lead within five minutes. Morgan Rogers popped up in space in the box but was foiled brilliantly by Jordan Pickford and Garner got a crucial block on the follow-up by Jacob Ramsey.

The match hit a turning point in the 54th minute, though, when Calvert-Lewin was sent clear into a one-on-one duel with Martinez but dallied as he tried to take it around the Argentine and Ezri Konsa got back to steal the ball off the striker's toe and put it behind.

Calvert-Lewin was away again, three minutes later, this time down the left channel but, sloppily, passed straight to a claret shirt and within a minute it was 2-2.

Once again, the ball was played towards the Villa left by Youri Teilemans looking for Digne stealing in behind Harrison who stuck out a foot to try and stop the cross, only to divert it into the path of Watkins who simply steered it past Pickford.

Watkins might have had a hat-trick soon afterwards as John McGinn dissected Everton's defence with a pass and Rogers squared it looking for the striker but it eluded him by a foot as he slid in.

Belatedly, perhaps, Dyche went to a back five, bringing Jake O'Brien and Orel Managa on for their debuts and withdrawing Harrison and Idrissa Gueye but the pattern continued, with Ian Maatsen the latest Villa player to enjoy space down their left and cross. Watkins somehow missed the target this time but Duran had the decisive say shortly afterwards.

Picking up the ball 30 yards from goal, the danger initally seemed minimal before the substitute unloaded a wickedly-swerving shot that bent into the top corner with Pickford well beaten.

Still, Calvert-Lewin might have rescued a point when he did the hard part by collecting another nice through-ball, and bustling past the last man but with just Martinez to beat he smashed his shot off the crossbar.

Like their conquerers from a fortnight ago, the Cherries, Everton now boast the unwanted Premier League record of having given up 2-0 leads in successive matches and they remain rooted to the foot of the table having lost their first four to start a campaign for the first time in 66 years.

Afterwards, Dyche bemoaned the fact that his team was falling on the wrong side of the margins but the manager faces a crucial run of winnable fixtures to try and put some points on the board.