Brighton 1-5 Everton: Everton did great business in the battle for survival on Monday night. A sensational start gave The Toffees wings, followed by a stunt on a visit to Brighton & Hove Albion. The grapes were sour for the home team in the hunt for a European ticket.
Beforehand, Everton seemed to be facing a tough Monday. Although competitor Leicester City already lost at Fulham, the pressure was on. From the penultimate place, manager Sean Dyche’s team had to hunt for a stunt. Certainly also because the host, given impressive victories over Wolverhampton Wanderers (6-0) and Manchester United (1-0), was in blazing form. The Seagulls still had a number of games in hand compared to the competition and as a result, a victory over the ailing opponent would even bring Champions League football into view.
Yet the unexpected happened. Dyche had given his team excellent instructions, as it turned out immediately after kick-off. The Evertonians couldn’t believe their eyes, because their luck struck after just 33 seconds. Brighton’s loss of possession was immediately mercilessly punished. Abdoulaye Doucouré was found through Alex Iwobi and Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The Malian reacted razor-sharp and immediately brought the bulging out section into ecstasy.
A little shaken by what had just happened to them, the Brighton elves had to pull themselves together. Manager Roberto de Zerbi, who had to do without the injured Joël Veltman, tried to repair the damage. Dyche, however, had his affairs in order. In fact, within half an hour it was hit again. Once again, Doucouré was the final destination. That was not the end of the cake, because five minutes later Brighton was completely against the ropes. An excellent action from Dwight McNeil ended up in goal through goalkeeper Jason Steele’s back.
Excellent business in the battle for survival
The blistering first half caused disbelief at The Toffees, while De Zerbi intervened. At halftime, the Italian success coach made three substitutions. It saw Brighton regain control, but Everton dug in firmly. A total encirclement followed, but thanks to the excellent goalkeeping Jordan Pickford and some help from the aluminum, the relegation candidate did not budge.
As Brighton scrambled for an opening, a formidable save from Pickford ushered in redemption for Everton. The goalkeeper cleared an Evan Ferguson header from the goal, after which the guests responded with a razor-sharp counter. Through Iwobi, McNeil again got the ball. The star outplayed Steele and seemed to complete the feat of his team.
Seemed, because McNeil was not ready yet. As icing on the cake, he also made his third of the evening in a sensational way in the final seconds. As a result, Everton, unexpectedly and despite a late honorary goal from Alexis Mac Allister, did great business and crawled out of the relegation zone.
