The sound started in the Gwladys Street and quickly spread around the ground. What began as a rumble was soon a roar. Fifteen minutes into what had been hailed as Goodison Park’s ‘retro’ day, it was only fitting that ‘If you know your history’ was being belted from every corner of the Grand Old Lady.

For so long it has been the supporters that have had to inspire the players, relegation battles survived because the fans have kept faith. Not today. This chant was a reaction to what was happening on the pitch. It was inspired by Everton’s players, not an attempt to inspire them.

It followed the opening goal in a first half performance of such adventure that this match was won before the half-time Bovril had met the frozen lips of supporters who could finally crack a smile.

READ MORE: Everton player ratings as Iliman Ndiaye outstanding and three others excellent vs Tottenham

READ MORE: Everton v Tottenham Hotspur LIVE - score, Ndiaye,Calvert-Lewin, Kulusevski, Richarlison goals

This match felt like an opportunity the moment the team sheets came out. A Tottenham Hotspur side low on confidence and in the midst of a defensive injury crisis had lost Dominic Solanke, Yves Bissouma and Brennan Johnson since their midweek defeat to Arsenal. Everton’s struggles run deeper and longer than those of Spurs but this was still an opening.

Perhaps sensing that, David Moyes set up this side with intent. They were quicker, sharper, stronger. They forced Spurs onto the back foot and deserved their reward.

Jesper Lindstrom, who tucked in as a part-time wing-back when Everton conceded possession, started this game with a freedom that he has not shown since his Eintracht Frankfurt days two years ago.

He had already stung the palms of Antonin Kinsky when he attacked a loose ball won when Idrissa Gueye went hunting in the Spurs half. Lindstrom controlled the bouncing ball and flicked it inside, where Orel Mangala returned it to Gueye and the Senegal international played Dominic Calvert-Lewin into the box.

Calvert-Lewin had not scored since September but did not play like that on Sunday afternoon. He played like he had the confidence of a manager who in midweek had gone public in his willingness to show patience for a forward he said had been bereft of chances for months.

Calvert-Lewin repaid that faith by twisting through three defenders and providing a finish of such cuteness that a stranger would be forgiven for thinking he was leading the goalscoring charts rather than propping them up.

The breakthrough pumped life into a stunned Goodison and all of a sudden the terrace classics were being sung from the stands. It was like a curse had been lifted from this iconic stadium as winter lost its chill with one clever finish.

More was to come.

Everton rarely led under Sean Dyche but when they did, they fell further back, became even more conservative and relied on the stubbornness that kept the club in the Premier League through two treacherous campaigns but which also stifled progress.

In just their second game under Moyes, the same players adopted a different approach and sought the comfort of a second goal. The plan was not foolproof - Son Heung-Min shot tamely at Jordan Pickford when he had the time and space inside the box to find an equaliser. He then fired at the England number one on another threatening attack.

But between those advances from the away side, Everton probed too. Mangala forced Kinsky into a flying stop that saw the Spurs keeper still having to rely on the post to come to his rescue and Calvert-Lewin stretched him with a leaping header.

When the second came few could say it had not been coming, even if this was a goal fashioned from a slip of a chance. Gueye, again the provider, will claim the assist but few would have anticipated a goal when Iliman Ndiaye ran onto his pass. His international teammate showed another glimpse of the magic in his feet as he carried the ball into the box and unleashed a furious effort into the roof of the net.

The goal came on the half an hour mark and it was Everton’s fifth shot on target. Just a fortnight ago, in Dyche’s final game at Bournemouth, this team did not test the opposition keeper once.

The best was yet to come, the third goal that ended this match as a contest was the most vivid representation of the change that has materialised almost overnight. The half was meandering through to the break after the momentum was disrupted by treatment to first Gueye, then Spurs defender Radu Dragusin. But after James Tarkowski stepped in to prevent Djed Spence from creating a route back into this game, Everton burst forward. Clever work by Calvert-Lewin and Abdoulaye Doucoure sparked a break that was ended by a clattering challenge on Lindstrom.

The winger sent in a delicious free-kick that was met by Tarkowski, whose effort was blocked by Kinsky. Lindstrom’s delivery from the following corner was cleared at the near post by Pedro Porro and the Everton of December 2024 would undoubtedly have played backwards to see out the half. This is the Blues of January 2025 though. It could not be a more different side. Sensing the opportunity, the hosts went for the jugular and found it with a ruthlessness few knew they had.

Porro’s clearance was recycled and pumped to the back post, where Tarkowski met the ball and guided it across the face of goal. Calvert-Lewin reacted first and his glance wrong-footed the hapless Archie Gray, who thundered the ball into his own net.

Goodison erupted again. For the first time in the match the song that would become the theme tune for the rest of the game was bellowed in chorus: “He’s got red hair but we don’t care, David, David Moyes.”

That same song would be repeated again and again in a second half that unfolded without excitement until the nerves of the final minutes, when Richarlison slid in at the back post to add to the clever Dejan Kulusevski chip that initially appeared to be a consolation goal. The ground was rocked by anxiety until Calvert-Lewin relieved the pressure by winning a foul on the halfway line. When the final whistle went, the feel-good factor returned - as did the love for Moyes.

While his players celebrated on the pitch, the Blues boss turned to the Main Stand and waved before pumping his fists in celebration. Behind him another old favourite, Richarlison, took in the adulation of the Gwladys Street as he hinted yet again that his heart remains on Merseyside. How fitting that ‘retro’ day should end with applause for two heroes of the past.

Moyes is now Everton’s present and future too. This did not just feel like the first win of a new year for Everton, it felt like the first three points of a new era - even if it is one led by an old favourite.