He took full advantage of a low right-wing cross from Kevin Mirallas in the fifth minute to fire the ball at goal and even though keeper Tim Krul got a hand to it, he couldn’t stop it finding the back of the net.

It was an early reward for an Everton side whose desire to attack Newcastle was clear right from the start.

There was even more reason for ­Everton and their fans to feel happy ­after 25 minutes.

Lukaku put a delightful pass through and Ross Barkley ran on to it before hammering in his second home goal of the season into the corner of the net.

That strike left a frustrated Toon boss Alan Pardew throwing his hands down in ­despair at the way his team had been playing.

The goal hammered home the early superiority of the Merseysiders who had their Geordie visitors on the ropes at every opportunity.

Then it was the turn of Lukaku to strike once again in the 37th minute with another exciting finish.

It all started with a hefty kick from Everton keeper Tim Howard which Newcastle captain Fabricio Coloccini failed to stop.

That was fatal as Lukaku ran ­forward, fooled the advancing Krul and calmly scored into an empty net.

Attacking opportunities were few and far between for Pardew’s men, who were pressed back for long spells by ­attack-minded Everton.

Newcastle marksman Loic Remy couldn’t have been too happy either, ­after being left to forage up front alone with very little support.

It all made for a game in which the Everton rearguard were very rarely troubled early, while up front the Goodison Park outfit simply attacked at will.

       

But despite their dominance, Everton had a post to thank when Yoan ­Gouffran seemed certain to score within minutes of the second half resuming. He seized on a through ball from Vurnon Anita and looked to have beaten Howard but the ball spun off the foot of a post.

But after 51 minutes Gouffran set up a surprise Newcastle goal by rolling the ball to the feet of Yohan Cabaye, a half-time sub for Hatem Ben Arfa.

Cabaye fired home a real corker of a right-foot shot from 20 yards to earn the distinction of being the first visiting player to score a Premier League goal at Everton in eight games.

It gave the Newcastle fans ­something to cheer about and certainly had the effect of galvanising their team, who suddenly started to attack Everton with renewed vigour.

Anita looked particularly lively and his 57th-minute right-foot shot was well taken just under the bar by Howard.

Pardew, so frustrated in the first half, kept urging his players to push upfield and they did precisely that, causing a fair amount of problems for Everton. Howard had to be alert between the posts for Everton as Newcastle ­frequently broke through.

Cabaye did his best to attack at ­every opportunity. His arrival as a half-time sub, along with Mike ­Williamson, looked an i­nspired choice by Pardew.

Their presence, plus a half-time ­rollicking for his team, transformed Newcastle into a team that looked ­capable of causing problems.

And they did so when Remy stabbed home Newcastle’s second goal in the 89th minute to set up a nervous finish for Everton that they hardly expected.