Everton produced yet another spirited performance but ultimately squandered a half-time lead to slip to a 3-1 defeat to newly-crowned world champions Manchester City at Goodison Park.
The Toffees took the lead in clinical fashion when Jack Harrison cooly slotted home past his former employers just before the half-hour mark.
But Pep Guardiola's side were back on level terms seven minutes after the interval as Phil Foden arrowed home a powerful effort from 25 yards.
The visitors hit the front via the penalty spot nine minutes later, Julian Alvarez squeezing past Jordan Pickford from 12 yards - before Bernardo Silva added a third late on to seal the result.
Portuguese duo Beto and André Gomes were drafted into Dyche's starting line-up, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin dropping to the bench and Idrissa Gana Gueye missing out on the matchday squad after sustaining an injury during the first half of the Blues' clash at Tottenham four days earlier.
City headed to Merseyside having created another chapter of history, having defeated Brazilian and Copa Libertadores champions Fluminense 4-0 in Saudi Arabia last week to win the FIFA Club World Cup to become the first English side to win five trophies in a calendar year.
They began like a side enjoying the confidence from their latest trophy capture and James Garner needed to be alert to provide an excellent block to deny Phil Foden's effort from inside the penalty in the opening four minutes.
If that was an early jab, City must have thought they had set themselves up for a haymaker 10 minutes later as they moved the ball at break-neck speed from the left byline with Jack Grealish to Matheus Nunes via a deft touch from Alvarez.
But Pickford was on hand with an excellent double save to keep the scores level, first denying former Wolves midfielder Nunes with his feet before immediately returning to his feet to deflect Alvarez's rebound behind for a corner.
City's early dominance was illustrated in the possession count, which stood at 74.4 per cent in favour of Guardiola's men after the opening quarter of an hour.
That, of course, only tells part of the story.
Everton's organisation and resistance under Dyche has been ever-improving and was on show in spades again here, but, the Blues boss called on his players to "take the game on" in his pre-match interview and that is exactly what they did when the opportunities arose.
One of those moments came via a corner on 19 minutes and Gomes' inviting in-swinging delivery looked destined for Jarrad Branthwaite's head before Ederson intervened with a strong punch.
The opener displayed the best of Everton's opportunism and cutting edge.
Rodri dallied in possession and Dwight McNeil took full advantage, taking over possession before providing a cut-back for Harrison, who calmly stroked past Ederson to send Goodison into raptures.
The Toffees - and Harrison - nearly doubled their tally three minutes later when Gomes' corner was half cleared and the former Manchester City winger controlled and prodded a left-footed shot that was bound for the top corner before being acrobatically clawed away by Ederson.
City responded after the half-time break and were level on 52 minutes when a short corner that was worked back and forth across the face of the Blues' penalty area eventually came to Foden, who arrowed a vicious low strike into the corner from 25-yards out.
Guardiola's side then took the lead from the penalty spot, Alvarez squeezing past Pickford from 12 yards, after Amadou Onana was, perhaps harshly, adjudged to have handled from point-blank range when attempting to block Nathan Ake's shot.
Dyche responded with a double substitution, introducing Calvert-Lewin and Michael Keane in a change of shape, with Vitalii Mykolenko and Nathan Patterson pushed on as wing-backs.
Everton continued to offer a threat following the setback, Patterson's deft touch released Harrison in the right channel and the winger dug out a low cross for Calvert-Lewin who could only divert agonisingly wide of the target.
Arnaut Danjuma replaced Harrison with 10 minutes remaining as the Toffees impressively through everything at the reigning league and world champions.
But City dealt a knockout blow in the closing stages, as Pickford's attempted clearance in the left channel was blocked by Alvarez, allowing Silva to curl in from close to the touchline.
It's another quick turnaround for Everton with a trip to Molineux to face Wolves on Saturday (30 December).
