Everton midfielder Jack Grealish set up two goals as the Toffees opened Hill Dickinson Stadium’s Premier League existence with a 2-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday.
Grealish had posted a single Premier League assist in each of his last two seasons at Manchester City, but now has two in two games on loan to the Toffees.
“Massive,” Grealish said after the game. “Our first game at the stadium. We wanted to put on a show for the supporters and I think we did. We are very happy to get the win.”
MORE — Everton 2-0 Brighton recap, video highlights
David Moyes did not start the soon-to-be 30-year-old in Week 1 but is sure to repeat Grealish’s name in the coming weeks after a fantastic display over 90 minutes vs the Seagulls.
Grealish subbed out of the game midway through seven minutes’ stoppage time to great applause from the crowd, receiving a pat on the back from Moyes.
“I absolutely loved my time at Man City, won a lot of things. I felt it was time for a change and as soon as I spoke to David Moyes on FaceTime, I wanted to come. There are a lot of reasons I wanted to come.”
The partnership with Ndiaye showed some promise as well, and it’s a very new development.
“Jack is an amazing player,” said Ndiaye. “Today he showed what he could do. It can be a very good [partnership].”
Grealish chimed in, revealing prescient thoughts from earlier this week.
“The manager hasn’t played us once together in training,” Grealish said. “I said yesterday is there any chance?”
We’ll see what Moyes has to say about Grealish after the game, but he’s certainly fueled hope that he can still be an elite difference maker in the Premier League.
David Moyes reacts to stadium-opening win, Jack Grealish performance
How do you read the performance? “Very proud. Everybody who manages against Brighton will tell you how difficult it is to play against them.”
Did the goal settle you down? “They priobably started a bit better. It took us a while to get settled. We had done alright we just gave up a bit more than we’d like.”
Will we see more of Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye together? “We’ll see if their performances are good. Jack’s got a couple assists today and Ili’s got a goal. We need to score more goals and have more attacking intent at different moments but the biggest thing today was the spirit on the pitch and in the stadium. The new boys gave to get used to that. We want more flair and more quality but we don’t want to give up a lot.”
Jack Grealish stats vs Brighton show commitment
Grealish didn’t have a ton of defending to do on a regular basis at Manchester City but he showed Sunday that he’s not shy about pitching into that part of the game.
He had the fifth-most touches in the game, cueing up three chances and the most recoveries (7) of any field player.
Jack Grealish stats in Everton vs Brighton (from fotmob.com)
Jack Grealish stats in Everton vs Brighton (from fotmob.com)
Jack Grealish assists Iliman Ndiaye goal (video)
Ndiaye scores first goal at Hill Dickinson Stadium
History! Jack Grealish locates Iliman Ndiaye across the face of goal to give the Toffees the lead against Brighton while combining to score the first-ever Premier League goal scored at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Jack Grealish sets up James Garner pile driver (video)
Garner’s belter doubles Everton’s lead
Jack Grealish picks up his second assist of the match as he sets the ball on a plate for James Garner’s hellacious effort from distance to make it 2-0 against Brighton at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
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