A new home, a statement win
Exactly 133 years after Goodison Park officially opened, Everton started life at Hill Dickinson Stadium with a result built to last. A 2-0 victory over Brighton on the opening weekend wasn’t just tidy symbolism; it was a performance that matched the occasion—controlled, disciplined, and decisive in both boxes.
The waterfront setting was the headliner before kick-off, but the football quickly took over. Jack Grealish, on debut, threaded the night together like he’d been here for years, supplying both assists and setting the tone for how David Moyes wants this team to play in their new surroundings. Iliman Ndiaye’s opener in the first half came from a Grealish delivery that punished Brighton’s first lapse in shape. Early in the second half, James Garner finished a clever move that again began with the same source, Grealish weighting his pass perfectly for the midfielder to sweep home.
The clean sheet was sealed when Jordan Pickford guessed right and stayed strong to smother Danny Welbeck’s penalty, the loudest roar of the night meeting his save. It was the kind of intervention that turns a good debut into a memorable opening chapter for a stadium and a season.
If the club needed a sign that the jump from a storied, tight old ground to a modern arena wouldn’t blunt their edge, this was it. Moyes, who 98 days earlier oversaw the farewell at Goodison—his side scoring the final two goals there against Southampton—steered a smooth transition. The choreography was all new: new walkout, new stands, a different skyline. The identity on the pitch was familiar: organized without the ball, quick and ruthless when the spaces appeared.
How the game was won
Brighton saw plenty of the ball, but they didn’t do much with it. Everton’s structure cut out the angles that usually feed the Seagulls’ interchanges around the box. The hosts sat compact, showed patience, and waited for their moments. When those moments came, Grealish was at the heart of them.
For the opener, the England international drifted into his favored pockets on the left and served a teasing cross that Ndiaye met with conviction. It wasn’t a spectacular hit, but it was all about timing—Grealish releasing the ball before the full-back could set, Ndiaye darting across his marker to finish. The first goal in a new stadium needs to feel inevitable; this one did.
After the break, Grealish struck again as the creator. Rather than hugging the touchline, he slipped inside to receive and turned Brighton’s back line with an early pass. Garner, arriving from midfield, read it early and opened up his body to guide the ball past the keeper. Two chances crafted with economy, two moments that showed why Grealish’s signing is as much about decision-making as it is about dribbles or step-overs.
Pickford’s save was the hinge on which the entire evening could have swung. At 2-0, a Brighton goal would have tested new-home nerves—the kind of late-game wobble you can’t entirely prepare for. Instead, Pickford’s read on Welbeck’s run-up and his strong wrist kept the scoreline intact. The defenders crowded out the rebound and, from there, Everton managed the clock and the rhythm with a calm that belied the occasion.
What stood out most wasn’t just the headline acts, but the balance behind them. Garner anchored the tempo and broke lines sparingly but smartly. Ndiaye’s work without the ball—pressing the first pass, curving his runs to block outlets—helped keep Brighton from settling. And with Grealish taking so much attention on the left, space opened for quick switches and underlaps that asked the visitors uncomfortable questions.
Brighton’s best passage came right before the penalty, when they finally turned possession into pressure. Even then, the home side’s shape didn’t crack often. Moyes kept his side compact between the lines, stopping the cut-backs that Brighton usually feast on. When the Seagulls tried to go over the top, they rarely found the timing. When they went wide, the crosses were forced rather than chosen.
The setting played its part. The sightlines are new, the acoustics punchy, and the pitch encouraged speed—one and two touches, sharper transitions, crisp diagonal switches. You could feel the players lean into it. The game didn’t drift; it surged in moments, then settled when the hosts wanted it to. That was as encouraging as the goals: control, not chaos, on a night that invited emotion.
For Moyes, the blueprint was clear. Keep the distances tight. Let Grealish be the pressure valve and the spark. Give Ndiaye service early. Trust Garner to handle the messy middle. Protect the box and bank on Pickford for the one big save. It’s a simple plan when the pieces fit; on this evidence, they do.
As for Grealish, this was the version the league knows can tilt games: not forcing the showreel moment, just choosing the right option again and again. Two assists on debut at a new ground suggests he’s been signed to be the system, not just a star within it. He didn’t need to dominate the ball to dominate the game. The timing of his decisions—and the calm with which he kept making them—gave Everton an attacking platform Brighton never quite disrupted.
Brighton will point to the penalty as their chance to reset the narrative, and they’ll have a case. But they lacked clear sights at goal from open play, and that’s the real story. Their best patterns never quite came off, their final pass kept skidding a yard long or arriving a touch late. Give credit to the home side’s discipline: they closed passing lanes early and fouled smartly when the counter was on. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was effective.
Beyond the tactical nuts and bolts, this had the feel of a reset. New routines, new matchday beats, same ambitions. The first walk down the tunnel, the first roar as the teams emerged, the first net ripple—that all becomes muscle memory now. If the club wanted a clean first page in the new chapter, they got it. You could sense it in the way the players applauded the stands at full-time: no lap of honor, no grand gestures, just a job well done on night one.
The opening day can be a mirage, but it can also be a message. This one read clearly enough. The move hasn’t dulled the edge. The stadium will take care of the spectacle; the team looks ready to take care of the football. Attention turns quickly to the next test, but the blueprint is down on paper: assertive without the ball, efficient with it, and built on a spine that knows how to win tight moments.
Night one at Hill Dickinson Stadium had all the ceremony you’d expect, but what will stick is the rhythm of the match itself: calm, clinical, and convincing. On a date that ties past to present, Everton didn’t just cut the ribbon. They set a standard.
August 25 2025 0
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