Senegal international Iliman Ndiaye ensured that Everton's final fixture at their iconic Goodison Park stadium was a rousing victory with two goals to dispatch Southampton and close the book on one of the most historic grounds in the sport's history.
The 25-year-old -- a summer signing from Olympique de Marseille last season -- has arguably been the brightest spark in a testing, transitional season for Everton, with the versatile attacker showing his quality in flashes under David Moyes and his predecessor Sean Dyche.
Of his various key contributions during his first season on Merseyside --- his display in the 4-0 drubbing against Leicester City, the equaliser against Manchester City, and the second in a 3-2 victory over Tottenham Hotspur spring to mind -- this showing to light up Goodison's final game was surely his crowning achievement.
Amidst considerable pageant and spectacle to celebrate the hallowed stadium, Ndiaye was all business, and appeared determined to ensure the focus remained on the pitch rather than the edifice around it.
His opener, six minutes into the contest, was a wonderful example of the glistening individualism and capacity for invention that Ndiaye brings to the Premier League. Ndiaye started the move by, with his back to goal, laying the ball back to compatriot Idrissa Gueye, whose ball forward to Dwight McNeil found the attacker squeezed out and smothered by two opponents.
The ball ran loose to Ndiaye, 25 yards from goal, and the West African turned, head down, and tore forward, evading the attentions of one Southampton defender, forging space between two others with a change of direction, before driving a low left-footed effort beyond Aaron Ramsdale.
Commemorations turned to celebrations as the goal went in, with the forward's moment of magic prompting blue flares being lit as the exuberant atmosphere on Merseyside ratcheted up another gear.
'I wanted to score a hat-trick'
In first-half stoppage time, Ndiaye added number two, killing the match as a contest and scoring the final-ever Goodison Park goal, at least in top tier men's football.
Picking up a through ball from the lively McNeil (where would Everton be if he'd have stayed fit all campaign?), Ndiaye found himself one on one with Ramsdale. The keeper stood no chance as the forward sat him down with an elastic shimmy -- without yet touching the ball -- and eventually cushioned it with his left before tapping home into an empty net.
"It is very special to score the last goal," he told journalists after the match. "I asked the referee to get the ball. It means a lot and I wanted to score a hat-trick. "Since the day I came, the fans have been great, the roar was amazing. It is an amazing day. They deserve it."
While Ndiaye's performance surely deserved the place in history on such a poignant occasion, spare a thought for Beto who, on another day, could have been the hero of the hour himself.
The Guinea-Bissau centre-forward -- himself a key protagonist in the revival under Moyes -- could have had two himself on a different day, only for two goals to be ruled out for offside, the second following VAR intervention.
Despite scoring seven since Moyes' arrival, there are doubts about whether the 27-year-old is truly the man to lead the line for Everton into the future, while Mali international Abdoulaye Doucoure looks to be coming to the end of his time at the club. The 32-year-old is out of contract at the season's end, with Everton yet to propose him new terms in a bid to retain his services.
It was Doucoure, don't forget, whose stunning second-half screamer against Bournemouth in 2023 saved Dyche's Toffees from relegation to the second tier on the final day. There had been fears, midway through the season, that this historic final campaign at Goodison -- the club's ground since 1892 - would go horribly wrong, with Everton again veering worryingly close to the dropzone and performances even more turgid than ever.
While Ndiaye played a role in ensuring heads remained above water under Dyche, he's also stepped up during the Toffees' renaissance under Moyes, despite a knee ligament injury sustained in mid-February that cost him 50 days of action and seven fixtures.
To date, Ndiaye is six goals in 14 outings under Moyes, compared with four in 21 under his predecessor this term, and supporters may well point to a run of three Ndiaye goals in three games (all victories, two by one goal) after Moyes' arrival as Everton capitalised on the 'new manager bounce' to pull away from the bottom three.
Despite his encouraging return this term -- Ndiaye has now scored nine in 32 in the league to become the club's top scorer - there's a sense that there's still much more to come from the attacker and that Everton have, so far, only scratched the surface of a talent who was among the most watchable in the land during Sheffield United's 22-23 promotion season.
Perhaps Ndiaye's moments of technical prowess, dribbling flourish, and fantasy innovation this season may have convinced any Everton fans wavering on their ongoing commitment as they leave their traditional heartland and the neighbourhood that bears their name, that they still want to be part of the club's next chapter down at Bramley-Moore Dock.
Indeed, Ndiaye, still under contract for four more years, is exactly the kind of unique asset who can help drag Everton away from the malaise and underachievement of recent seasons and give them something to be proud of as the fallen giants look to truly make the Hill Dickinson Stadium their own.
'Prouder than ever'
Moyes hasn't always managed to get the best out of attacking talent, with players such as Gianluca Scamacca, Nikola Vlasic, Andy Johnson, James Beattie, Nikica Jelavic and Andy van der Meyde among those whose careers have stagnated under the pragmatic Scot.
He's had some notable success stories as well, however, and it's not too far-fetched to envisage Ndiaye's game being taken to another level as happened with Mohammed Kudus, Steven Pienaar, Jarrod Bowen, Tim Cahill and, of course, another classic 'street footballer' in Wayne Rooney.
Ultimately, in the context of Everton's league season - with safety secured weeks ago -- Ndiaye's heroics don't matter much beyond ensuring the Toffees will finish in the top 14, and ahead of Manchester United, Spurs and West Ham United.
Historically, of course, and in the hearts of Everton fans present on Sunday, and those following events around the world, his goals have decorated the final page of those 133-year-old history books.
"Prouder than ever to have been part of such a special moment yesterday and to have scored the final goals at Goodison Park," Ndiaye wrote on his Instagram handle after the match. "Huge thanks to all the fans for making it unforgettable and for your support all along the season.
"Up the Toffees!"
No stadium in the country has hosted more top flight matches than Goodison; it was Horace Pike of Nottingham Forest, back in 1892, who scored the first league goal there, and Iliman Ndiaye who scored the last.
He ensured his small piece of history in the final story of this grand old ground, and perhaps showed Everton what to expect from Chapter One of Bramley-Moore.