Jack Grealish scored Everton’s winning goal against Bournemouth and celebrated with visiting fans by kissing his badge, praising his connection with supporters.
Jack Grealish celebrated Everton’s winning goal against Bournemouth by kissing his badge and praising Everton fans who have been “very good to me”.
The playmaker, who was on loan from Manchester City and began his career at Aston Villa, underlined his dedication and love for the Toffees in his congratulatory speech. Everton was Grealish’s fourth club in his career and he was a fan favorite wherever he went.
After falling through the ranks in Manchester, he is being given the chance to revive his career on Merseyside. Grealish has repaid Everton’s faith and the club picked up an option to sign him permanently for £50 million in the summer.
His goal with 12 minutes remaining was a deflection, but he celebrated in front of the rushing fans to show his love for them.
Grealish said: “I’ve been very lucky to have good connections with the fan bases in all the teams I’ve played for on loan, including Notts County. Aston Villa have been great. Obviously I’m an Aston Villa fan. I also go to City and I have very good connections there and I still do here. I’m lucky to have a great club and fan base. This is another one. They’ve been very good to me.”
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The City loanee had a club-high four assists, one shy of his Premier League best. However, Jordan Pickford told Grealish he had played one of his worst games for Bournemouth and had a decisive moment.
The game winner said, “Today, I think they wanted more from me at the start of the second half. I don’t think I played that well. Then the Pickers came up to me and said, ‘That was a bad game, but you got the winner.’ They were singing my name in front of the goal, so they wanted more from me, so I gave it to them.”
Everton responded brilliantly to Newcastle’s onslaught at the weekend. Less than two weeks later they had won at Manchester United, but manager David Moyes insisted they still had their sights set on Europe.
“We’ve been away at Old Trafford and now we’re here at Bournemouth so it’s a really positive thing,” he said. “We want to keep moving forward. We really want to challenge the top teams and stay close to Europe if possible. But the teams below are never that far away, so we’re always looking over our shoulders.”
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