AZ Alkmaar lost the first match in their title defending campaign 3-2 to underdogs Heracles Almelo, and lost two players to red cards in the process.
Only seven minutes had been played in Almelo when Everton scored the opener from a Bas Dost assist. Shortly after the break, Willie Overtoom made it 2-0 and Ronald Koeman's new team now faced a serious challenge.
It became only more difficult for AZ when Mark-Jan Fledderus converted a free kick in the 61st minute.
The away side then appeared to wake up with two goals in the 77th minute. Graziano Pelle beat Martin Pieckenhagen for 3-1 and Mounir El Hamdaoui then scored from a Jeremain Lens pass.
But the third goal wasn't to be scored. Instead, AZ lost both Gill Swerts and Pelle to red cards late on.