Best moment
Iliman Ndiaye Owns the Handover
There are better players in Everton history than Iliman Ndiaye, but very few will ever get a cleaner line in the story. Final men's league goal at Goodison. First league goal at Hill Dickinson Stadium. That is the kind of fact supporters repeat because it feels too neat to waste.
His Brighton goal was not just a stadium trivia answer. It was a release. The first proper home league crowd at the new ground needed somebody to give the place a noise it could remember.
Ndiaye's appeal also sits in the way he plays. There is a slipperiness to him, a willingness to receive under pressure and make something awkward happen. Everton have spent too many years short of players who make defenders nervous in that way.
The handover from Goodison to the dock could easily have been told through architecture, finance and naming rights. Ndiaye makes it a football story again: a player, a finish, a roar, a new line in the books.
That does not make him a legend by itself. It gives him a doorway. What he does next decides how big the room becomes.
Ndiaye's place in the handover story works because it is both symbolic and practical. The symbolism is obvious, but the practical part matters too: Everton need players who can make moments rather than wait for them.
His appeal is in that little flicker of unpredictability. A crowd can feel when a player might do something that was not on the team sheet. Goodison loved that. The dock will love it too.
The challenge now is turning the neat story into a bigger one. Firsts are lovely, but Everton need nexts: next decisive goal, next big home performance, next reason for the new ground to sing his name.