Everton signed off their final home game of the season with a win over Burnley.

Richarlison opened the scoring on 17 minutes with an exquisite long-range strike after Gylfi Sigurdsson and Dominic Calvert-Lewin combined in the build-up.

Barely two minutes later, the lead was doubled when Lucas Digne’s own shot from distance was parried by Tom Heaton for Seamus Coleman to head home.

The result keeps Marco Silva’s side in the hunt for Europa League qualification heading into the final weekend of the campaign, when they travel to Tottenham.

Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:

Richarlison hot on Firmino’s heels

 

As debut seasons go, few Everton players have fared better than Richarlison.

Contrary to what the Premier League’s dubious goals panel claimed, the Brazilian’s sumptuous long-range opener does not belong to Ben Mee.

Richarlison’s contested 13th strike of the season further reflected an astute return on investment and a step closer to rivalling his opposite number on Merseyside.

Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino still holds the record of the most single-season goals by a Brazilian player in the Premier League with last year’s haul of 15.

A hat-trick against Tottenham in next weekend’s finale is improbable but make no mistake, Richarlison is well and truly snapping at his compatriot’s heels.

Blues continue to keep it clean

 

Focus invariably continues to gravitate north of the Bullens Road stand as the current campaign near its current, white-knuckle conclusion.

Liverpool’s bid to fight on dual fronts remains a difficult shadow to shake but Everton are quietly giving their local rivals a run for their money on some fronts.

A fourth successive clean sheet at home took Marco Silva’s side to a total of nine in the league this season – a feat matched by just one of their contemporaries.

Yes, you’ve guessed it.

The 11 shut-outs recorded by the occupants of Everton’s former domicile shows Merseyside’s gulf in standards is not quite the chasm some would like to think.

Is this Jags’ last goodbye?

 

Laps of appreciation have become synonymous with signing off campaigns at Goodison Park, both of the memorable and forgettable variety.

Managers and players alike have encountered contrasting emotions when facing almost 40,000 Evertonians for what ultimately proved to be their last time.

None, however, have been as heart-rending as Phil Jagielka’s walk around the stadium that he has called home for over 12 years, possibly for the last time.

The Everton captain is under no illusions that his on-field role has lessened during this season and hopes of extending his stay currently appear ominous.

If this was Jagielka’s swansong, a three-minute cameo felt like a token gesture but the Gwladys Street ensured that it would not go out with a whimper.

His name was chanted by the famous stand, and indeed the whole of Goodison, with the same passion that the defender showed for the best part of a decade.

A player of Jagielka’s calibre and experience will not be short of offers from top-flight clubs this summer. Everton’s loss will truly be someone else’s gain.

Silva gives fans what they want

 

Barely 12 months ago, a popular refrain was echoing throughout the media:

What do Everton fans want?

Those sympathetic to Sam Allardyce were outraged that he had been discarded after six months of stability that boiled down to mind-numbing joylessness.

Allardyce’s media acolytes claimed that things would not improve at Goodison with Marco Silva swiftly moving into the one-time England manager’s seat.

They will double down on that rhetoric with the Portuguese coach recording just two more victories and a four-point swing on his predecessor’s track record.

But statistics can be misleading, especially when Silva’s first season is analysed.

Results-wise, Everton may not be far and away from where Allardyce has steered them yet there has been a clear difference in the standards being set under him.

Vibrant, attacking football is what fans craved and Silva gave them exactly that.