The word of the day for me was relief. Relief for the win, despite the chances we gave them, relief that Grealish did so well, given the profile of his signing, relief that Ndiaye scored as it means we have a second quality player contributing, relief that the new stadium was what we hoped it would be.

The stadium itself was the biggest thing for me. From reading forums and match reports, it rocked. There was also no reported issues with crowds leaving the narrow bridge.

Allnin all a good day.

Great to see a player in an Everton shirt who keeps and uses the ball, while providing time and space for other players. Even better to see some stickability when it got tough. A good, promising start.

It's a lovely, sunny morning on Merseyside. I'm not sure whether that's due to the meteorological conditions or the fact that Everton won, playing some nice football in the process.

Though perhaps we missed a chant yesterday: Can we play you every August?

I keep hearing that Welbeck's penalty was a bad one, but praise has to be given to Picks because he made it be that bad. On the run up Picks started to move to the left before the ball was kocked therefore giving Welbeck the "OH SHIT" moment that made him second guess and fluff his lines. So a bit more credit should go to Picks.

You capture the day perfectly Lyndon. Worth the wait. Its so refreshing to read an article from an Evertonian who understands what he is watching.

Before we celebrate the positives. I feel there are a couple of negatives which we need to address. Tarkowski being the primary one. He didnt get away with these errors early last season when we were repeatedly punished and found ourselves floundering near the bottom and he wont continue to get away with them this season. He didnt just make a couple of errors. He handed Brighton two gilt edged chances which could, and lets face it, should, have seen Brighton go in at HT in front. Then we see Seamus warming up when O'Brien went down. My heart sank. Great servants they may have been, but I cant escape the feeling that by keeping them around, Moyes risks damaging the affection in which both men are held by the fan base. Not until they are sitting in the stands with the rest of us can we relax in the knowledge that we are heading in the right direction IMO.

So. The positives. What a great day. The weather permitted me to invite a "few" blue brothers around for a pre-match bevy. before I knew it, we had a garden full of Fanatical Blues. The usually gobby RS neighbours were bemused. They got a first hand look at what your actual match goer looks like.

A short stroll down boundary and we were sampling the carnival atmosphere. The stadium is magnificent. There were periods when the noise levels dropped, but I give Brighton credit for that. They do keep the ball well, but when we were able to wrest control from them, the noise was deafening. Charlie Danced. Tim slalomed and Jack simply strutted. Arrogance in a blue shirt...Bliss.

Keane was hitting some beautiful balls. Pickford was Brilliant. The tackling machine tackled....Then he tackled some more. Which is what you need to do against this very impressive Brighton team.

Some lovely flashes of individual skill rather than a dominant team display, but I don't think either Barry or Beto are footballers and I thought DH was trying a little too hard. That said; I would like to think that when the individual skills we have acquired will start to manifest themselves into dominant team displays allowing us to see the best of Dewsbury-Hall whilst ensuring The strikers will get enough chances to prove you don't have to be a great footballer to score goals.

Finally; I'm really warming to Garner. He was given a torrid time by a fast, powerful winger for long periods during the game, but despite being played hopelessly out of place. He stuck to his task manfully and eventually got on top of his man. What a strike too. My MOTM

Michael Fox 4

Yeah!
And I keep hearing of Mitoma’s unlucky Volley!
but, Did anyone else see, that he controlled ( check replay!) the ball in the air with his hand?

I suppose,with the dire refereeing, had it gone in, the ref ( without VAR),would have accorded it, just for the effort and more so to punish us!
Our new Stadium definitely shone some good Luck on us, apart from the outstanding goals we scored.
More of the same please.

Darren Hind 5

nail on the Head, with your perspective on all the Players, that you mentioned.

I was disappointed to see that Barry was outran to the Ball.
I thought when I saw him first, with his build, that he would be a lot more speedy.

The three substitutes, Beto, Alcarez, and McNeil that came on were uninspiring.
Taking McNeils injury into account, I Feel that all three have somewhat Stagnated, since last Season.

Thank you Paul! I immediately noticed Mitoma’s use of his hand in the replay, but no one else made any mention of it so I was wondering if I was seeing things!

I just want to give a shout to Tim Iroegbunam who I thought had his best game in an Everton shirt. I hope his injury isn’t too bad as it would be cruel for him to have miss out after such an assured performance.

Also to Michael Keane, seeing him spray those pinpoint cross field passes suggests that his confidence is up. And I believe a confident Keane still has a lot to offer.

The score would’ve been very different without Brighton’s profligacy, but I say fuck it…we put the ball in the net and they didn’t! 💙

Dave (8) You beat me to it regarding Tim Iroegbunam. I thought yesterday he gave his best performance as a driving force in midfield. He has many of the attributes of a Patrick Vieira; tackling ability, physically powerful, skilful with the ball and tenacious. He is still learning his trade. Obviously he needs to grow out of the impetuosity which has earned him two yellow cards for halfway line tackles in the first two games of the season. I really hope the maturity which comes with experience will enable him to develop into the intelligent, genuine box to box midfielder we need.

In regard to Tim’s injury yesterday, it appeared from my seat in the Lower North Stand that he was suffering from cramp rather than a strain. Even if it is only cramp it may make sense to rest him on Wednesday, allowing Harrison Armstrong to step into the lineup.

Lyndon mentions the ear splitting speakers. The noise was slightly less pronounced than we used to suffer in the Park End but mates who previously sat in the Bullens Road or the Street End say it is much louder than they were accustomed to.

Lyndon, I think I am correct in saying this was your first visit to the stadium. Aside from the game itself, I would be interested to know, perhaps in the next podcast, what you made of the whole experience pre and post match, what you thought of our new home and how it compares with other stadia you have been to.

Great day, nice write up, and some good comments.

From the start Jack showed his composure and ball control, he teases players to try and take the ball off him, and he makes such good use of it when he plays it out from his velcro boots, two assists, and so nice to watch.

Illy moved comfortably to the right and contributed as always, so pleased we scored the first goal, and at both ends too.

The pen save and clean sheet were icing on a cake that Brighton could have eaten first half, but the day was ours, and will live in the memory.

Yea Paul
I seen it, I was screaming at the telly but the stupid ref just ignored me.

In the context of the result, rather than the splendid occasion, it was a nervous watch for most of the game. Luck was with us thankfully, and it ended up as a game with LOTS of positives. A happy momentous day.

As Frank says we rode our luck at times but two cracking goals and some stand out individual performances….I thought Grealish and Gana had particularly fine games.

John (9), I will do that on the next podcast next week when I'll have had time to fully digest what was a brilliant day.

It was my first to HDS visit, yes. I think even were I based in the UK, I might have resisted the temptation to go to one of the test events because I would have wanted to experience it for the first time on a day that meant something but I didn't have a choice really.

Suffice to say, it more than met my expectations and erased any fears it was all hype.

I have watched the construction of the stadium with keen interest and great expectations.

My visits for two test events worried me, it just didn’t feel right. Having been going to Goodison since 1963, I felt I would not adapt to the new surroundings, the place felt soulless.

I was bowled over by it on Sunday. It’s magnificent.

the first goal was of a high quality. Brighton were in trouble the moment Barry reversed the ball superbly into Ndiaye's path, even though it was ten seconds before the ball hit the net. also the weight DH put on the ball to Grealish, perfect. And Grealish's ability to get the cross in, most times that ball gets blocked, but his ability to shift the ball from his right foot to the left in one instant made it very difficult for the defender. And the finish, not easy, that was a fizzing ball.