Dwight McNeil gave credit to Frank Lampard and his teammates for their belief in his ability as he detailed his delight at his first competitive goal for Everton.
McNeil's stunning half volley secured the three points for the Blues at Southampton on Saturday. As well as clinching the win for his side, he also ended his own goal drought with the vicious back post effort.
As important as the goal was, it was just one part of an impressive all-round performance from the 22-year-old, who stepped in for Anthony Gordon. McNeil found out he was starting on the day of the match, explaining he was grateful for the opportunity, adding: "That's all I want to do is just play, and I was happy to be in that starting eleven."
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McNeil repaid Lampard's faith by delivering his best performance since his summer move to Everton. The highlight was his emphatic strike, which ended a frenetic five minutes that saw Joe Aribo put the hosts ahead before Conor Coady levelled and then McNeil struck. The former Burnley man took a touch to control an in-swinging Alex Iwobi cross and then rifled a left-footed shot into the roof of the net from a tight angle.
Describing the goal, he said: "It happened so fast. The first and foremost thing was getting my first touch right to set myself up, which I did, then it was just about concentrating, keeping my eye on the ball and just striking through it. Luckily enough it went in."
While McNeil pointed to luck, he said he was looking to hit the top corner as soon as the ball fell to him beyond the back post, explaining: "I was aiming for that area because I knew the defender was blocking off [the rest of the goal] but it is one of those where you have to keep your head over the ball and just strike it as clean as you can and see what happens, and luckily it hit the back of the net."
Asked whether he thought his first touch or the strike that followed was better, he said: "I think in order for me to get the strike the first touch was the most important thing. If I didn't set the touch how I wanted then I knew I wouldn't be able to strike the ball how I wanted to. So the most important thing was getting my first touch right to allow me to strike the ball the way I did."
The goal was not the only moment of quality from McNeil, who did not score and provided one assist for Burnley last season - statistics that would have been far better had teammates taken more of the dozens of chances he created. Minutes later he sent Demarai Gray through on goal with a precise, perfectly-timed through-ball. Gray's strike was saved by Gavin Bazunu - depriving McNeil of another assist. He said: "It was a good pass and unlucky Dimi not taking it."
McNeil was busy throughout and hustled Southampton's players on the ball, repeatedly tracking back to pressure opponents. While he said the most important thing was for Everton to win, he acknowledged his personal pleasure at getting on the scoresheet and said: "I'm obviously delighted to score, I know it's been a long time - a long goal drought. But the most important thing was us winning today."
The strike capped off a promising performance by McNeil, who reflected on his work to improve in a post on Instagram that read: "What a feelinggg. My first Prem goal for the Toffees, absolutely buzzing. The last few months have been hard both physically and mentally, I have pushed myself to improve and build my confidence and I hope that showed to the fans today."
His performance was built on the support he had received on and off the pitch, he said, praising those around him including at Everton, where staff and teammates had shown faith in his ability. Once he found out he was starting, he knew he had a chance to try and impress and repay that support, which he did. He said: "Going into the game I just needed to stay calm and relaxed and enjoy it. It helps as well when you have the manager and the players around that believe in you. It gives you that extra belief to believe in yourself so credit to them for believing in me."
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