... and the tough guys didn't crumble.
From what can be regarded as a fourth consecutive Premier League season with very generous opening fixtures,
a realistic target of 13pts from a possible 18pts we remain well on course for - and go to Old Trafford in expectation, not just hope.
Brighton may well be short on quality, but like all 19 opposing clubs in the Premier League, they still needed to be defeated.
Team spirit, there for all to see, fostered by two managers at very differing stages of their respective careers.
Like the 0-0 in March, a chess match would be played out to begin - only with one very defining moment in difference yesterday...
As if you didn't know, chess matches are a combination of teasing and outmanoeuvring your opponent with imagination, patience and ruthless conviction.
Well yesterday's game was another cancelling out of each teams early threats, both sets of players working very hard to deny their opponents any room to play the moment the ball was passed beyond the half-way line. Only when one player in possession and dribbling into the other half of the pitch did the temptation to counter materialise into something for the neutral to get excited about.
But when a footballing chess match means something tangible, and both teams are trying their best, chess matches can be fascinating. Young players learning their trade. Managers trying to get the absolute most from the resources they have available at their disposal. For when, asides the swarming of midfielders in possession with intent, the chance to counter-attack was on, it was always going to be who could make the most of what was there to be offered. Step forward (arguably) the signing of the Summer.
It really should be taken for granted that a 25-year-old professional athlete, in the 21st century of the world's most popular sport, can and will use BOTH feet to pass, dribble AND shoot. Yet at this level of an increasingly-global market, a £1.7m purchase would seldom get you what we appear to have in Demarai Gray.
But we know this as clearly as a full-back's career rejuvenated in the Bundesliga (JonJoe Kenny), the German league offers many bargain players, along with a willingness to give the likes of Lewandowski and Haaland the chance to be such lethal finishers. So witnessing a midfielder shooting with his weaker foot - and scoring - two Saturday afternoons in succession; not only does Gray represent a massive bargain in the FPL stakes, the winger is epitomising the philosophy of boss: be yourselves in the best interests of the team - just don't take the [you-know-what].
And in being their own players, the appetite for goals a certain Dominic Calvert-Lewin displayed throughout 2020-21 is there for all to see in just about every Evertonian on the pitch now. You can't help but wonder if Jordan Pickford fancies scoring with his head from a corner in the near future...
This said, there was a moment of some concern when one of the most talented players ever to have played for our club afforded himself two moments without restraint. It can be summarised in many ways. It has been all over social media. And whilst I have been guilty of being a little too generous in donating the benefit of the doubt in my life a few times, I still believe that strong management (or 'tough love', as it's sometimes referred to) can be the answer.
Richarlison had an immediate impact in his Everton debut at Molyneux three seasons ago, yet it was only three games into that very first Marco Silva-controlled campaign that his very actions early in the 2-2 draw at Bournemouth that turned a determined eyeball-to-eyeball into a mild head-butt; the second red card of 2018-19 was suffered, meaning Silva's days as our manager may as well have been over before they started.
The difference yesterday was JUST enough restraint NOT to be the [so-and-so] that costs us two/three points on two counts; no red card, but also getting the message, albeit very too late for an informal, one-to-one hearing with Rafa this coming week not to be necessary.
The young Brazilian is clearly keen to be one of the greatest players ever to represent his country, in that every chance he isn't able to play in yellow is a chance for someone else to take advantage of his absence. Benitez has a task on his hands now to bring the best from the player. Like his predecessor, a wealth of good experience needs to be called upon.
Other than that glorious cocktail of confidence, conviction and class Gray clearly now has in abundance, massive praise must be offered to DCL again for handling a difficult situation, culminating in the responsibility of seeing through the formality of a penalty conversion. Southgate won't have failed to spot this.
The one area of concern over the team performance as a whole is that our players may be getting a little greedy when in possession and on a counter-attack; dribbling without passing the ball when an opponent happens to be in a better shooting position requires vision, something you can't always coach into players.
What is indisputable is the appetite for working hard as individuals in the interests of denying opponents time in possession, an improvement on Eland Road, albeit Brighton, but will only improve as the players gel as a unit and good management.
This season, which could have gone so horribly wrong after that defensive mix-up against Southampton, rescued by an inspired half-time team talk, is beginning to blossom. The points need to come from somewhere. Let's watch others do the chasing, whilst we get points on the board early. empresstouch