By the final whistle, the favourite old anthem was booming from the speakers. The players in Blue were sporting beaming smiles, a promising young striker had bolstered his reputation and the man on the touchline was punching the air in delight.
Aren’t Everton supposed to be a club in crisis?
Sam Allardyce will certainly be wondering whether too much had been made about the ills Everton had endured, as his opening day went exactly how he would have wanted with goals from Gylfi Sigurdsson and the outstanding Dominic Calvert-Lewin securing a 2-0 win over Huddersfield.
Sam Allardyce began his reign as Everton manager by overseeing a victory over Huddersfield Town on Saturday afternoon
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (left) and Gylfi Sigurdsson scored the goals as Everton climbed to 10th place in the Premier League
The result means that Everton have now won back-to-back Premier League games for the first time in the 2017-18 season
Sigurdsson set Everton on their way to victory by breaking the deadlock early in the second half at Goodison Park
MATCH FACTS AND PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Kenny, Holgate, Williams, Martina: Gueye, Davies (Schneiderlin 66mins); Lennon (Lookman 71mins), Rooney (Keane 80mins), Sigurdsson; Calvert-Lewin
Subs not used: Robles (GK), Niasse, Vlasic, Baningime
Goals: Sigurdsson (47), Calvert-Lewin (73)
Booked: Kenny, Davies
Huddersfield (4-1-4-1): Lossl; Smith, Zanka, Schindler, Malone (Mounie 71mins); Quaner (Palmer 46mins); Ince, Williams, Mooy, Depoitre; Kachunga
Subs not used: Green (GK), Hogg, Cranie, Lowe, Hadergjonaj
Booked: Malone
Referee: C Kavanagh
Attendance: 39,917
MOTM: Calvert-Lewin
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Everton took the lead when Dominic Calvert-Lewin backheeled the ball to Gylfi Sigurdsson who finished from 15 yards
Wayne Rooney played 80 minutes and took up various positions, as his heat map shows
For more stats and maps visit Sportsmail’s brilliant Match Zone.
Back-to-back victories in the space of four days have propelled Everton into the Premier League’s top 10 and they are now, remarkably, just seven points and four places behind Tottenham Hotspur. No wonder Allardyce was rubbing his hands about the task ahead.
This, be under no illusion, is not a mercy dash.
For all there has been disquiet and ambivalence about his appointment, Allardyce was given a proper introduction before kick-off and the reception, in the main, was positive with the majority recognising it is pointless wasting negative energy.
Allardyce insists public perception doesn’t bother him but, privately, he would have wanted a flying start to settle the situation further and make Goodison the buoyant arena it should be. What he got in the first 45 minutes, however, was a contest that took tedium to new, head-shaking depths.
Huddersfield showed little ambition to attack, Everton lacked the gumption to impose themselves. The only attack point of note before the interval was a shot from Cuco Martina but Jonas Lossl, Huddersfield’s impressive goalkeeper, was hardly overstretched to deal with it.
A delighted Sigurdsson celebrated his goal with Everton team-mates Aaron Lennon (left) and Jonjoe Kenny
Iceland international Sigurdsson fired home on 57 minutes after being played in by Toffees striker Calvert-Lewin
After assisting the first, Calvert-Lewin scored the second himself when he slotted into the net via a deflection on 73 minutes
Tom Davies was shown a yellow card during a two-minute spell which also saw Scott Malone and Kenny booked in the first half
Davies was on the end of some tough treatment during the first half, in which he struggling to find his passing range
Sigurdsson’s intervention completely changed the dynamic. Huddersfield had no option but to come out but that left more pockets for players such as Rooney and Sigurdsson to prosper and it was the captain, in the 73rd minute that finally ended the visitors’ resistance.
Rooney has come to life again and the weight of his ball that allowed Calvert-Lewin to scurry away was glorious, the roll and pace resembling a crown green bowl.
The young England striker never had to break stride and his shot squirted in via a deflection off Huddersfield defender Zanka.
From that point, Everton were never going to be caught and the had the luxury of playing the final 15 minutes at half-speed, savouring the noisy acclaim at the final whistle. What a difference a week has made.
Allardyce had a heated conversation with Mike Dean, who didn’t seem overly interested in what the Everton boss had to say
The first half ended with Sigurdsson wasting a fine opportunity for Everton to break, his intended ball for Dominic Calvert-Lewin missing the target by miles. It was an appropriate way to end the half and Allardyce’s shake of the head and kick at the floor was a telling reaction.
There was no chance he was going to let it continue in such a fashion but the speed in which Everton made a breakthrough – within 90 seconds of the restart – would have certainly come as a pleasant surprise. It also, certainly banished any lingering nerves.
What was just as telling was the quality about the move, far removed from anything that had good before. Aaron Lennon rolled a pass into Calvert-Lewin, whose instinctive back-heel opened the pitch up and allowed Sigurdsson to steam and do the rest, sweeping his finish beyond Lossl.
Once again, the emotion was relief: for the new manager, for the crowd and, above all, for a player who has struggled badly since becoming Everton’s record signing, the £45million fee looking at times like it would smother him. You could see how much his first strike at Goodison in Blue meant.
It took until the 25th minute for either team to register a shot on target as Everton defender Cuco Martina tried his luck
Danish Huddersfield goalkeeper Jonas Lossl did not have much to do during a very quiet first 45 minutes on Merseyside
But Lossl was beaten early in the second half when Calvert-Lewin played in Sigurdsson to score from 15 yards
Sigurdsson was mobbed by his fellow Everton players after handing the home side the lead with his third goal for the club
The former Tottenham Hotspur and Swansea City playmaker has now found the net twice in his last three appearances
Twenty-year-old Calvert-Lewin took his seasonal tally to six goals before letting out a scream in celebration
The former Sheffield United trainee tapped the Everton crest on his shift as he smiled widely after beating goalkeeper Lossl
Allardyce gave Everton supporters a wave as he started his latest managerial position by guiding his team to three points
Calvert-Lewin was one of eight English players to start in the first Everton XI picked by former Three Lions boss Allardyce