Everton star left dejected as Jack Grealish makes surprise training ground admission

Everton star left dejected as Jack Grealish makes surprise training ground admission

A look at some of the stories beyond the headlines after Everton's win over Brighton

Iliman Ndiaye celebrates scoring his team's first goal with teammate Jack Grealish. Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images

Everton rode their luck but punished Brighton for missing their chances to deliver a famous win in the first competitive game at their new home.

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Goals from Iliman Ndiaye and James Garner, and some heroics in both halves by Jordan Pickford, allowed the Blues to take three points from an historic match. The win was a valuable momentum-shifting result following a disappointing defeat at Leeds United and ahead of the last week of a transfer window in which business is still a necessity.

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Here, the ECHO takes a look at some of the key moments from beyond the headlines that you may have missed amid the excitement.

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Iliman Ndiaye makes emotional goal dedication as verdict shared on new Everton role READ MORE:

How Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye came to light up the waterfront

The highlight was the opening goal when, having survived a few scares at the other end, Everton’s two most effective attacking talents combined to provide lift-off at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The attack started with Thierno Barry, who held up the ball before a fluent move saw Everton cross the pitch through Ndiaye, Idrissa Gueye and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who sent Jack Grealish into the box where he tormented Mats Wieffer before crossing for Ndiaye at the back post .

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The pair appeared to hit it off immediately and both stood out on a landmark day, providing hope that David Moyes’ side will have a creative flourish that has long been needed.

Yet while the wide players displayed instant chemistry, Grealish said after the match that it was the first time they had played together since his move to Merseyside earlier this month.

He explained: “The manager hasn't played us together once in training. I said to Iliman yesterday: 'Any chance of the manager playing us together?' So, this is our first time. Hopefully there will be many goals and assists to come."

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Jordan Pickford’s penalty gamesmanship

Grealish and Ndiaye were two of the heroes of the day but Jordan Pickford ensured he proved his value once again. The England number one has endured another summer in which his international credentials have been bizarrely targeted but came to the party with two huge saves.

Moyes later credited his stop from Danny Welbeck’s penalty as being crucial to thwarting a comeback and it came with a healthy dose of gamesmanship. Pickford has a good record against spot kicks and the notes on his water bottle have become legendary due to the help they have provided for Everton and England.

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Images from Sunday’s game showed Pickford had a problem against Welbeck - the stats available to the club revealed it was 50/50 over whether he would go to the right or left. Not to be perturbed, Pickford displayed confidence after taking a look - perhaps making Welbeck believe he knew more than he did. The result was a poor penalty that Pickford was able to read and save.

James Tarkowski watches with his head in his hands

Pickford’s other major save came in the first half, when he leapt from his line to smother Matt O’Riley’s golden chance after he was played in by James Tarkowski. It was a poor back pass from the centre back and a player who is normally an expert at last ditch interventions could do nothing but stand on the edge of his box with his head in his hands and hope that Pickford saved him - which he did.

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What the day meant for David Moyes

The occasion had genuine meaning for David Moyes and after the final whistle he stepped onto the pitch to lead his players in a lap to applaud the home supporters.

In the post match press conference it was easy to see the day was important to Moyes, who said: “I think in this industry we go to nearly all the best stadiums in the world. You get to go to games, you go to Champions League finals, you see all the stadiums, you go to so many big games and big stadiums.

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“But this felt different because I thought it was more to do with the people who had put the work, the time, the effort into building this stadium. And I was thinking more about them today. A lot of them are not here, but a lot of whom maybe were the people that instigated it, found a way of getting the money or whatever we had to do for this day to happen.

“So I think we shouldn't forget about those people because they were really important. Bill [Kenwright, former chairman] would come into it as well, as much as many others who were involved in it, and they were trying to find a way of moving the club on and finding where they thought the next steps were required.

“I think this is a big step for Everton Football Club, and as I said, there will be, and I use the word 100 years, so for 100 years there will be different managers sitting here and there will be different press here as well. But the stadium will be here and what we need to do now is start the building of a strong team and I don't know if we can get it done immediately, but we're going to try and fight to get the building blocks down and lay a good foundation for the club going forward.”

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A big name in the away end

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