Iliman Ndiaye scored Everton’s first Premier League goal at the Hill Dickinson, with Jack Grealish assisting the Frenchman to put the Toffees 1-0 up against Brighton.
Ndiaye, who also scored the Toffees’ last goal at Goodison Park, got on the end of Manchester City loanee Grealish’s excellent cross on the left side to send the crowd into raptures in the 23rd minute.
Sent clear down the left by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish drove towards Max Wieffer before wriggling into some space and firing across goal with his left foot and putting it on a plate for Ndiaye to fire home.
Not only was it the first goal at their new home, it was also their first goal of the season after a 1-0 defeat at Leeds on Monday as they got their season up and running in style.
The goal came after the hosts went dangerously close to going 1-0 down, with Koaru Mitoma hitting the crossbar with a ferocious volley before Danny Welbeck spooned the ball over the bar from close range.
The Seagulls threat continued aftet the goal with Jan Paul van Hecke once again striking the woodwork with a deflected long-range strike.
Everton start life at new stadium
An unsurprisingly raucous crowd roared the Toffees on as fans prepared to witness a Premier League game at their new home for the first time.
Everton waved goodbye to Goodison Park at the end of last season after 133 years as they prepared to move to the new state-of-the-art ground.
