A sun-drenched carnival atmosphere tinged with sadness gave way to a purposeful start from Everton, and barely a minute after Beto was denied by a one-handed save from Aaron Ramsdale, the Toffees were up and running.
A through-ball from Jarrard Branthwaite to Ndiaye midway in Southampton territory sparked a succession of passes that tore the Saints apart, allowing Ndiaye to find space and side-foot into the bottom-left corner, sending Goodison Park into raptures.
The withdrawal of captain Seamus Coleman through injury drew a standing ovation, and a personal thanks from the stadium announcer as Ashley Young took his place, with the Irishman passing the armband to Jordan Pickford.
Moments later, Beto underhit an attempted shot across goal and wide, after Ndiaye did all the legwork, and then found the net twice either side of the half-hour mark, only to be flagged offside both times at the end of impressive moves.
Fortunately for the Blues, Ndiaye was having all of Beto’s luck, and he got his brace on the stroke of HT, when a poor giveaway from Southampton allowed Dwight McNeil to play the Senegalese forward in on goal, and some eye-catching trickery allowed him to round Ramsdale and roll in, completing a dominant first half for the Toffees.
With Everton having seen 2-0 home leads against Bournemouth, Manchester United, and Ipswich Town fall by the wayside earlier this season, there was still room for some trepidation amongst the Goodison faithful as the second half unfolded.
Almost sensing this, Everton initially lacked some of the cohesion they’d shown earlier, but they still got the first major chances of the second half, as a breakaway saw James Garner fire at Ramsdale before Beto put a header over the bar after meeting a cross from the right.
Having seen his side almost dead and buried, the visitors’ interim boss Simon Rusk duly made a treble switch on the hour mark, keeping some hope of a Saints revival alive.
Shortly after that wholesale change, Pickford was forced into his first save of the afternoon, thwarting Ross Stewart with his shin at close range after a poor clearance from potential summer departure Abdoulaye Doucouré.
Everton regained some composure, but time was running out for Everton to sign off with a goal at their famous Gwladys Street End.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin might have got it with 15 to go, but found himself under defensive pressure and couldn’t get a clean shot on the end of a breakaway.
That final Gwladys goal never came, but that was a mere afterthought at the FT whistle.
Ultimately, Goodison Park – a stadium that witnessed eight league title wins, a FIFA World Cup semi-final, 2,791 senior men’s games (including 1,539 victories) and 945 Everton goals in the PL – got the send-off it deserved.
Evertonians are hoping for a brighter future at the newly-named Hill-Dickinson Stadium, and while Southampton won’t be league visitors there next season, they could still end a terrible campaign with a real scalp next Sunday, when they host Arsenal.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Iliman Ndiaye (Everton)
