Ranking Iliman Ndiaye's best Everton goals | OneFootball

Saturday’s glorious victory over Chelsea came with many highlights — on the pitch, in the stands, and even outside Hill Dickinson Stadium. But chief among them all was the stunning strike from Iliman Ndiaye, which well and truly settled the contest in Everton’s favour.

Ndiaye picked out the proverbial postage stamp, but Everton’s Number 10 is no stranger to a great goal.

He has scored 17 times in 64 appearances across all competitions — perhaps it could be argued he should be netting more, given the quality he has — with 5 of those being penalties.

But the 26-year-old’s tally includes some truly spectacular moments, including the final competitive goal(s) at Goodison Park, and the first at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

So, I’ve had a shot at ranking his top five. And, it’s tough.

5. Manchester City (A) — December 2024

Ndiaye had already demonstrated his brilliance for his first few Everton goals. There was a mazy run and fine finish against Doncaster Rovers in the Carabao Cup, a lovely, drilled effort to get off the mark in the Premier League against Leicester City, and a thunderous shot against Ipswich Town.

But his exquisite strike against Manchester City towards the end of 2024 is what gets the nod for this list.

Abdoulaye Doucoure’s cross found its way through to Ndiaye, who brilliantly took it under his spell with a deft first touch, but the agile, prodded finish that followed was sublime.

It came amid the backdrop of Sean Dyche’s final few games at the club, but earned the Toffees a highly respectable draw at the Etihad Stadium.

4. Southampton (H) — May 2025

There are two to pick from here, of course, but I’m plumping for the first one.

While Ndiaye’s second will go down in history as the final goal scored at Goodison, his opener is what put David Moyes’s men ahead and really gave lift off to the celebratory nature of such an emotional occasion, with Everton saying goodbye to the Grand Old Lady.

Ndiaye, having drifted into an attacking midfield position, latched onto a loose ball and charged forward, surging through a gap in Southampton’s defence and planting a low, curling effort into the bottom-left corner.

3. Chelsea (H) — March 2026

An instant highlight reel, and arguably a goal of the season contender purely because of just how accurate a finish it was.

“Top bins”, “the postage stamp”, whatever you want to call it, Ndiaye sent his effort curling beyond Robert Sanchez and into a space just to the side of the post and just under the crossbar, nestling into the side netting before the ball did a lap of honour around the right-hand side of the goal.

Unstoppable.

2. Sunderland (A) — November 2025

Jack Grealish’s arrival last summer saw Ndiaye switch out to the right flank, and it is where he spent much of the first half of the season.

He is now back on the left flank, due to Grealish’s absence through injury, and while he does seem more like a more natural goal threat there, there’s no doubting he can be impactful from both sides, as he has also shown for Senegal.

What does perhaps become more notable on the right, though, is that he needs quality service from the other wing to be consistently effective, whereas generally, when playing on the left, he is able to create for himself with a bit of magic, drifting onto his stronger side.

There’s exceptions to every rule, though, and look no further than Ndiaye’s stunner against Sunderland as an example.

A true solo goal, Ndiaye picked up possession on the right touchline, drove infield and somehow squeezed his way between two defenders.

He squared up another two red and white shirts before curling, with his supposedly weaker left foot, a sumptuous finish into the left-hand corner, leaving Robin Roefs helpless.

1. Tottenham (H) — January 2025

And it’s another solo run and finish that tops this list.

Moyes’s first win in his second stint in charge of Everton came against Tottenham, as Everton raced into a 3-0 lead by half-time.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin put them 1-0 up, but their second goal was the highlight, delivered of course by Ndiaye.

Having combined slickly with compatriot Idrissa gana Gueye on the halfway line, Ndiaye powered forward at pace, forcing Spurs’ defence to retreat.

Radu Dragusin tried to engage him, but by then it was too late, as Ndiaye did a full-speed crossover, sidestepped and then arrowed a left-footed shot high into the back of the net, sending Goodison Park into raptures.

It was possibly the goal that put the rest of the Premier League on alert, but that doesn’t mean Ndiaye has become any easier to stop.

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