David Moyes ended a 20-month search for a new right-back by signing Maitland-Niles from Lyon for £4million on transfer deadline day, and the 29-year-old wasted little time repaying that faith.
Coming on as a 77th-minute substitute for James Garner, he curled a 20-yard effort past goalkeeper Senne Lammens in stoppage time, cancelling out United's second lead of the afternoon to secure a 2-2 draw at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
"It's up there for sure. Top one, if not top two emotionally, with the circumstances and what it is, it means a lot," Maitland-Niles said, when asked where the goal ranks among his career highlights. It was only his second Premier League goal, following one for Arsenal against Liverpool at Anfield in December 2018, a match the Gunners lost 5-1 to Jürgen Klopp's side.
Describing the moment itself, he said: "It opened up. I was there, I just ran into it and the pace was already on the ball, so it was okay.
"I just had to get a clean connection and I managed to do that. I was thinking: 'Please go in!' It was a spur of the moment thing where I knew I had to just hit it as perfectly as I could and I managed to do that so I'm happy."
He also reflected on the pattern of the match, describing how Everton were made to work hard for their point at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Maitland-Niles, from Goodmayes, east London, said Moyes had not needed to sell him on the move.
"The manager didn't need to, it speaks for itself, it's Everton Football Club, it's massive," he said. "It's a proud moment for me to be able to sign here and for my family to be at Everton. My son and my wife were here today, so it was a lovely moment for them. I'm really happy to be here and I felt the energy and love from the crowd and I just want to give back what they've given me.
"You can feel it from when I landed in the plane with the team that picked me up and helped me with the medical and everything, from the very first moment you can feel the love."
The move caps a winding journey since his Arsenal release, for whom he made 72 appearances and won the FIFA Under-20 World Cup with England, including loan spells at Ipswich Town, West Bromwich Albion, Roma and Southampton before three seasons in Ligue 1 with Lyon. The England international, capped five times in 2020, admitted he still has to establish how he fits into Moyes's plans after not starting on his return to English football.
"We still need to sit down and discuss a few things which he said to me because it's so new with me being here and why I didn't start today," he said. "So, I need to go through a few things with the manager, talk and see how he views my playing style and how I fit into the team."