Tim Cahill celebrated his return to Everton's starting line-up with thewinner in a breathless 3-2 win against Stoke at the Britannia Stadium.
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Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard is beaten by an own goal from defender Phil Jagielka.
Cahill had missed the start of the season with a broken metatarsal that blighted him for much of the last campaign.
• Moyes questions penalty decision
But he marked his surprise inclusion by striking the decisive blow, heading home Mikel Arteta's corner in the 76th minute.
Evertonlooked like they would cruise to victory when goals either side ofhalf-time from Yakubu and Victor Anichebe put them firmly in thedriving seat.
But Stoke showed grit, and aided by the potentweapon of Rory Delap's long throw they fought back and restored paritythrough Seyi Olofinjana and Phil Jagielka's own goal.
However, they were denied what looked like an unlikely point when Cahill had the final word.
SinceStoke moved from the Victoria Ground to the Britannia Stadium 11 yearsago, their new home has become renowned for its passionate atmosphereand the stadium was bouncing again at kick-off.
The noise levelof the home support was raised another notch in the second minute inanticipation of a trademark lonng throw from Delap, but the ball landedon the roof of Everton's net.
The game's first chance arrived after 12 minutes following a flowing Stoke attack.
Theball was worked out to Liam Lawrence on the right wing and he slid apass through to Ricardo Fuller, whose low, first-time shot across goalwas pushed out by a strong Tim Howard hand before being smothered bythe American at the second attempt.
A sloppy passage of playensued as both teams struggled to retain possession, seemingly becomingbereft of ideas when in the opposition's final third.
New signingSegundo Castillo would not have impressed his team-mates, or theEverton supporters, when he twice misplaced a routine pass and kickedthe ball out of play on the half-hour mark.
Another long throwfrom Delap presented Olofinjana with a shooting opportunity 10 minutesbefore the break when Everton could only clear the ball to the edge oftheir own area, but the former Wolves midfielder wildly blasted overthe crossbar.
Five minutes later Yakubu put Everton ahead with the Merseysiders' first shot on target of the first half.
Aclever reverse pass by Arteta to Cahill created confusion inside theStoke penalty area. Cahill laid the ball into Yakubu's path and hecoolly steered it into the bottom corner from 18 yards out for histhird goal of the season.
Five minutes into the second half Everton doubled their advantage through Anichebe.
Arteta won a free-kick 25 yards out on the right of the area.
Thediminutive Spaniard took the kick himself, curling the ball with hisright foot into the box where Anichebe's glancing header to the farpost left Thomas Sorensen rooted to the spot in the centre of his goal.
But Everton's two-goal lead last just three minutes before it was halved by Olofinjana.
Delap'slong throw was punched downwards by Howard and the ball deflected intothe path of Olofinjana, who volleyed powerfully past the keeper fromjust beyond the penalty spot.
Stoke thought they had equalisedjust before the hour when Fuller outmuscled Joseph Yobo on the edge ofthe area to get to Dave Kitson's flick header.
Fuller took theball around Howard, tapped into an empty net and wheeled off incelebration, but referee Alan Wiley adjudged that he had fouled Yobo.
Stokewere level in the 62nd minute when another throw launched into the boxby Delap flicked off the head of Jagielka at the near post and beyondHoward.
Stoke were fortunate not to concede a penalty when LeonCort handled the ball inside the box under pressure from Yakubu in the74th minute.
The offence clearly took place inside the area but Wiley awarded a free-kick on the edge.
The decision incensed David Moyes so much that the Everton manager was sent to the stands following his protests.
Moyeswould have felt a sense of justice done two minutes later when Cahill'srun to the near post was not tracked by the Stoke defence and he headedhome the winning goal. Moyes questions penalty decisionEverton manager David Moyes will be looking for an apology from referee AlanWiley if the Staffordshire official is wrong over the disputed penalty.With the possibility of an FA misconduct charge to follow Moyes still stood hisground and demanded the official apologise if he later realised he had beenwrong.''It definitely struck the player's hand and he was definitely inside the area.The referee pointed to the spot and then appeared to change his mind,'' Moyessaid.''It was infuriating because it came at what was at an important point in thematch for us.''If I was wrong I would apologise to him and if he was wrong I would expectthe same.''Cahill was a surprise inclusion in Moyes' starting line-up after recoveringfrom the broken metatarsal that blighted him for much of last season.But the Australia international marked his return with the winning goal,heading home Mikel Arteta's corner in the 76th minute.Moyes said: ''I had known for a couple of days that he might be in with a shout(of playing).''He has looked good in training but it was just that match practice that hewas lacking.''However, I thought he would be okay and I put him in there and he gave thekind of performance you expect from him.''He is a very good player and he scores some very important goals for us.''With the score at 2-1, Stoke had a decision go against them. Ricardo Fullerthought he had equalised just before the hour when he out-muscled Joseph Yobo onthe edge of the area to get to Dave Kitson's flick header.The Jamaican took the ball around Tim Howard, tapped into an empty net andwheeled off in celebration, but Wiley adjudged that he had fouled Yobo.However, Stoke manager Tony Pulis refused to criticise the official.He said: ''Alan was closer than me so I have got to accept his decision.Sometimes you get them and sometimes you don't. We didn't today and we have toget on with it.''Pulis also felt the decision that saw Moyes sent to the stands should not havebeen a penalty for Everton.''One decision that I was closer than Alan to was the penalty/free-kick againstLeon Cort,'' Pulis said.''I actually felt that Yakubu pushed Leon Cort before he handled the ball so itshould have actually been a free-kick to us.''
