Anthony Gordon's celebrations were stunted by the offside flag that wrongly sought to deny him his biggest moment at Goodison Park of the season so far.
But when VAR - for once - corrected a call in Everton's favour, there was pandemonium in the stands and joy written across the starlet's face. Amid the chaos Gordon found his way to the home dugout where, waiting for him, was Frank Lampard. Several pictures capture the embrace that followed. Together, they tell a story of an academy graduate with the world at his feet and a manager who has backed him again and again amid the squalls of speculation this season has thrown up so far.
Lampard has been Gordon's biggest advocate since the dust settled on last season's relegation scare. In the summer he gave him the number 10 shirt and told him at a fan event in Washington DC : “He can be whatever he wants… he’s absolutely got all the talent, he’s got the right attitude… everything is there for Anthony.”
