Dwight McNeil admitted he remained confident that goals would come so long as he kept focused on his own game.
The 22-year-old, who arrived in the summer for around £20million, smashed home the winner from a tight angle on 54 minutes yesterday, settling a frantic five-minute period in which Southampton took the lead via Joe Aribo before Conor Coady levelled with a close-range finish.
Everton were able to see out the 2-1 victory against a frustrated Saints' outfit, with Jordan Pickford pulling off a string of fine saves to deny the few chances created.
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As well as providing Frank Lampard with back-to-back wins for the first time since Everton beat Chelsea and Leicester in last season's relegation run-in, McNeil's thunderous finish ended a goal drought of 18 months - his last goal before this weekend came in a 2-1 win for Burnley at Everton in March 2021. That drought was used unfairly as a stick to beat the winger with upon the announcement of his arrival, but he admitted that he knew the goal would come, so long as he remained focus on himself.
“Yeah, I feel good,” McNeil said after the final whistle. “Obviously getting the first goal is always important. I’m happy I took my chance when I got it but the main thing is the the points. Before the game we spoke about going for back-to-back wins and now we have to kick on and do that again.
“We knew before the international break [against West Ham] it was a big win and we know sometimes coming back from the break, that first game can be tricky. But I thought we did really well, especially going 1-0 down. We responded really well and got two quick goals. Now we have another big game next week and we have to rest and prepare for that one.
“I know I hadn't scored in however many games before today, and I knew the drought was getting bigger and bigger. But I knew if I kept focusing on myself and kept playing well I knew it would come. And it did come.”
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