Everton, Jack Grealish begin Hill Dickinson-era with aplomb

In stark contrast to the opening weekend defeat away to Leeds United, Everton showed themselves to be quite capable going forward en route to a 2-0 win over Bright & Hove Albion to jumpstart the Hill Dickinson era at Everton Football Club.

While the lineup remained mostly unchanged from Monday's loss at Elland Road, save for Jack Grealish coming in for Charly Alcaraz, Everton looked an entirely different team as they began the home portion of the 2025/26 Premier League season.

It was an encouraging start to the match for Everton, as they entered to the familiar air horn and "Z Cars," and immediately jumped out onto the front foot in the match, with Iliman Ndiaye getting off the first shot for the Toffees inside of the first few minutes.

An 18th-minute error by James Tarkowski saw Kaoru Mitoma in on goal, but the Bright player's shot grazed the top of the bar. Just a minute later, Yankuba Minteh had a chance to play Danny Welbeck in for a relatively easy sitter, but the winger's pass was behind the striker, who put the ball over the bar.

And then, in the 23rd minute, a brilliant bit of build up featuring Thierno Barry, Ndiaye, Idrissa Gana Gueye, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall led to Grealish driving the ball into the box and knocking a cross in with his left, which Ndiaye smashed into the net to make Everton history.

The rest of the half was a back and forth affair, featuring near misses from Everton's Tim Iroegbunam and Brighton's Jan Paul van Hecke, and another from Grealish on a poor touch inside the box.

The final minute of the half saw James Tarkowski almost give Brighton a way back into the match, as he sent a weak pass back to Jordan Pickford that was intercepted by Matt O'Riley right in front of goal. But Pickford saved the day, and allowed Everton a 1-0 halftime lead.

Half number two saw Everton starting well again, as they doubled the lead just 6 minutes in via an absolute rocket from James Garner on an assist from Grealish, another move that featured excellent build up from the Toffees.

The two goal lead forced Brighton to go even heavier on the attack, and they had a chance to cut the lead in half when a penalty was given for handball when Dewsbury-Hall slid into stop a shot from Minteh and the ball hit his hand.

But Pickford saved the day again, saving Welbeck's rather weak penalty effort and keeping Everton's lead intact.

Everton should have had three goals, to be fair, as a late opportunity for first Dwight McNeil and then Beto to score in 88th minute went by the wayside. And then, moments later McNeil sent a decent opportunity just wide of the post.

But Everton walked away with a clean sheet and all three points, as Jack Grealish made his presence felt in being named the Man of the Match in his full debut for the club.

It'll be a quick turnaround for Everton, who will host League One side Mansfield Town on Wednesday evening. But they'll be buzzing from the massive victory to open the new stadium, and an overall sound performance to boot.