Everton appeared to have taken a valuable three points away from home thanks to a late goal from Jarrad Branthwaite, but the home team rallied and dominated the remaining time to earn a point with a Lewis Dunk header deep into added time after Gilmour was sent off for a rough challenge on Amadou Onana.
The previous season, when the Blues went to the Amex as sacrificial lambs for the high-flying Brighton to feast upon, produced one of the biggest upsets in many a year. But Sean Dyche and the Goodison whipping boys had other ideas, as they taught the Seagulls how to eat five helpings of humble pie right from the start. Is it possible that today’s match will be repeated?
Before the game, Brighton was ranked seventh in the standings, meaning that if they remained there at the end of the season, they would have advanced to play in the Europa Conference League the following year. The Seagulls were trying to prevent Everton from winning three games in a row at the Amex Stadium, but their chances of success were hampered by the injuries that kept preventing Joao Pedro, Jack Hinshelwood, and old man James Milner from playing. Roberto De Zerbi, head coach of Albion, gave the team’s most recent update, saying, “We have a problem with Kaoru Mitoma, he has a problem with his back.” I’m not sure if he’s a player. The following day, we shall examine the circumstances. We are accustomed to playing without key members. But it’s excellent news that Julio Enciso will be sitting on the bench.
The Seagulls have only had one scoreless draw in their previous fifteen home games and haven’t lost at home in the Premier League since West Ham defeated them 3-1 back in August. In an attempt to maintain their strong home performance, De Zerbi selected the following players for his starting lineup: Verbruggen, Lamptey, van Hecke, Julio, Gross, Gilmour, Adingra, Buonanotte, Welbeck, and Ferguson.
After failing to score in our previous four away games from Goodison, Sean Dyche was expecting for a return to form similar to what we saw at the Amex the previous season. With Seamus Coleman recuperating from illness and Vitalii Mykolenko probably playing despite a knock he had in the draw with Crystal Palace, Dyche said Arnaut Danjuma, Andre Gomes, and Dele Alli would be the only squad members who would be out for sure.
Dyche stated, “Most teams who do well against them have worked well on transition, including ourselves, of course, last season,” in reference to the challenge the Blues face. That is not enough to rely on. We also need to play. We need to improve both when we have the ball in our possession and when we set up the team tactically. I believe that [the 5-1 victory] was likely a bump in the road for them at the moment.
Don’t get me wrong, we made that happen,” he continued. I believe that night we were preoccupied with our own performance. Their home record indicates that they are still a very formidable team, so we must act accordingly as we normally do.
Requiring a response Jordan Pickford, Ben Godfrey, James Tarkowski (c), Jarrad Branthwaite, Vitalii Mykolenko, Jack Harrison, Idrissa Gana Gueye, James Garner, Dwight McNeil, Abdoulaye Doucoure, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin were the players Dyche named as his starting eleven.
Tony Harrington officiated our game on this sunny but breezy afternoon on the south coast.
The first half saw Brighton force a corner after Godfrey cleared a header from Adingra, DCL, and the Blues, wearing their salmon pink away strip, playing towards the densely gathered Evertonians. Tarkowski then put a follow-up cross behind for a second corner. Once more, DCL stood up to give way, and a short while after, Adingra fed Welbeck, but his attempt to enter the Everton region was thwarted. The host team had gotten off to a strong start, and the Blues might have had a demanding day of defense.
After Welbeck started a flowing Brighton move and saw his shot deflected wide and behind, Brighton won a third corner. The Blues’ strong defensive play cleared the set piece, but less than nine minutes in, Brighton struck again when Adingra forced Godfrey to give up a fourth corner. Tarkowski and DCL once more effectively defended the set piece with clearing headers. Buonanotte laced a lovely ball to Welbeck, who pushed it too hard past an advancing Pickford and wide of the goal. After a quarter of an hour, Everton had hardly made it over the halfway line, with the home team handling the few attacking attempts by the pink team with skill.
Welbeck was fouled by Garner to stop another Brighton assault. Tarkowski then sent another Adingra cross behind for a corner, which Branthwaite cleared, and Mykolenko’s strong play brought a foul from Adingra. Welbeck was creating havoc in the middle of the Everton defense, and it took a long-range effort from Ben Godfrey to divert a shot behind for the sixth corner, from which Dunk managed to get a clean header into Jordan Pickford’s clutches.
With Everton defending resolutely and hoping for an occasional successful counterattack, Brighton was playing with the confidence of a team with a strong home record, passing the ball quickly and moving with precision to a planned game plan. As a result, Doucoure’s entry into the Brighton zone earned them a pointless corner from Dunk in the twenty-third minute. This set up a counterattack by Brighton, which saw Adingra miss a shot from twelve yards that was just too high. This was their greatest effort of the game thus far.
In the subsequent Brighton assault, Welbeck found Adingra, but Tarkowski headed Tarkowski’s effort from outside the area over for a corner. In another uncontested header, van Hecke found only Jordan Pickford’s waiting arms. After Gana Gueye won a 50/50 in midfield, DCL pushed the ball wide to McNeil, whose cross was intercepted by Harrison. Brighton then cleared the second cross, but Everton responded when Mykolenko crossed too forcefully from the left wing.
After 30 minutes, Brighton had the better of the play and had significantly outnumbered Everton in corner counts, but Jordan Pickford had not had to make any significant saves, and the Blues had come dangerously close to taking the lead when a wonderful cross from Mykolenko caused Dunk to give up a corner that Verbruggen easily claimed. The Everton captain did not dispute that James Tarkowski was given the first yellow card of the match for pulling Welbeck down. Welbeck was given some treatment after feeling the full force of the challenge on his right knee.
Mykolenko stopped a Lamptey cross, which cost the Blues another corner, which they again easily defended, and we went over the half-hour mark with the scoreboard still blank. After Garner and Gross collided, referee Harrington gave Brighton a free kick a few yards beyond the Everton area. Welbeck’s set piece effort was somewhat of a rugby conversion, as it cleared the crossbar and the wall.
After two more minutes were signaled, the teams headed to their respective dressing rooms for a symbolic slice of orange and cup of tea. The best Everton attack of the first half featured passes between Doucoure and McNeil, followed by a low ball for DCL that resulted in Dunk conceding another corner that was defended.
Halftime: 0–0
Both sides had executed their Plan A in the first half, and with the score tied at zero, the Blues’ Plan A had won. In order to break the tie in the second half, both sides would make adjustments and implement their Plan B. Brighton appeared to be playing more fluidly, but Everton was proving to be a difficult opponent and had given the home team a few warnings that they might yet pull off an upset. Everton began the second half defending the end, where they could count on the vociferous support of well-known faces and voices. Neither manager made any changes.
With just over three minutes remaining in the half, Amadou Onana replaced Idrissa Gana Gueye by stripping off, and DCL won an early free kick despite having caught Julio with his elbow. Mykolenko’s deep cross caused Tarkowski to move across the field, and Branthwaite turned to face DCL. DCL went down, arguing that he had been obstructed, and the referee dismissed his appeal.
While Brighton players attempted to persuade the referee to give James Tarkowski a second yellow card, the traveling supporters were making every effort to encourage the players. De Zerbi also spoke with the fourth official, and he was given a yellow card for his troubles. Mykolenko had to climb to stop the ball from reaching Ferguson after Gross crossed the ball, costing Everton another corner that did not pose much of a threat to their defense. Everton reacted, and Lamptey had to make a goal line save to stop Doucoure from scoring on a volley after McNeil’s cross was set up by Pickford’s long pass.
As the hour came, the game was starting to become a little more physical, and Brighton was getting ready to force the change. De Zerbi substituted Estupinan for Julio, Veltman for Lamptey, and Fati for Welbeck on the hour.
As Brighton attempted to push the game, Everton changed on the 66th minute, sending Beto in for DCL just before van Hecke was booked. Enciso replaced Buonanotte as Brighton made their fourth change, but amazingly, Everton scored the first goal from a set piece as Jarrad Branthwaite smashed the ball high into the top corner, raising the roof off the other side of the stadium.
De Zerbi made a last-ditch attempt to break the home team, but the Blues’ desperation defense and unnecessary over-elaboration at the back kept them at bay until Adingra’s shot went wide. Gross was booked, and Lallana took Ferguson’s place. Gilmour’s high tackle on Amadou Onana in the final ten minutes saw Brighton reduced to ten men, and the referee immediately showed a straight red card.
Even with ten men, Brighton was pushing forward for an equalizer, and Everton needed to focus even more because, after taking the lead, defending it was now much more crucial. After the Blues cleared their own half, Garner feed Beto, who had managed to stay onside. Beto gained ground before his shot went over the net. Adingra moved to the right, and Mykolenko was doing a fantastic job of playing him as the home team kept attacking. After the Blues’ frantic defense cost them crucial seconds and minutes, Ashley Young was substituted for Abdoulaye Doucoure by Everton for the final few minutes. An amazing nine extra minutes were announced after a Brighton free kick almost caused chaos in the Everton area. Godfrey cleared the ball as the home team yelled for a handball.
As the Everton bench questioned the duration of the added-no time with the fourth official, Beto was booked for an awkward challenge. Everton overplayed at the back again, and Amadou Onana was given a soft yellow card as well. Onana should have done the basic thing rather than attempting to be ingenious. After McNeil headed a cross behind for another Brighton corner from the right, Gross’s follow-up cross found Dunk and Brighton level after Branthwaite made the first clearance.
Brighton was applying more and more pressure to Everton, but they countered only to have Harrison’s attempt miss the mark. In the grand scheme of things, Brighton should have had a point, but Everton will be regretting themselves for not being able to hold that late lead and will probably view this as a two-point loss rather than a valuable road point.
Completed Time: 1-1
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