25 January 2025
Brighton 0 Everton 1
The Seagulls have been happy playing anywhere but their own ground of late. As they welcomed Everton to the Amex Stadium, the hosts had not won here since the end of November. Add to that, The Toffees were unbeaten in their last four visits here. If you were a betting man, it seems the planets were aligned for you to make some money on an away win.
David Moyes’ side came into this game fresh off the back of a win against Tottenham, something that doesn’t hold the same level of respect as it once used to. As a result, the manager opted to go with the same starting line-up. Back-to-back wins would help them take a serious step away from the bottom three and make the dream of top-flight football at their new ground more of a reality.
Things didn’t start well for the visitors as Calvert-Lewin challenged for a header. He immediately pulled up clutching his hamstring. The striker’s day was over but what will be more of a worry for Moyes is him having to spend some time on the sidelines. The club do not have an abundance of competent strikers at the best of times.
It was a strange first-half, the kind which you would have on in the background as you do other things around the house. However, if you didn’t have chores to get on with, you would certainly start channel hopping pretty quickly. Some would say the two teams were cancelling each other out, others would say this was a dreadful game of football.
Both keepers could have asked for an extra ball to be thrown on and juggled it to keep the fans entertained. Neither side seemed capable of creating any chances at all, clear-cut or otherwise. The majority of the game was being played in the middle of the park but just when things started to get interesting, they would give away possession with a loose pass.
A hopeful ball forward saw Mykolenko and Beto challenge Veltman for the ball. The Brighton defender went to ground and both players immediately appealed for a penalty. Looking at the replay, he seemed to think he had been fouled and as most players do in the modern game, he tried to pull the ball towards him as if it were a given a free kick be awarded.
VAR reviewed the incident after the referee played the Stevie Wonder card. They then sent him to the monitor, like a child who had said they had cleaned their room when they blatantly hadn’t. He got to watch the incident on the monitor, learn the error of his ways and then make out he had some eureka moment of clarity to change his decision.
Ndiaye stepped up to take it and slotted it into the bottom corner, just far enough away from Verbruggen that he could not get to it. The attacker then celebrated the goal by flapping his arms around like a bird. The referee, crazily, then booked him for the gesture. These officials are just making the modern game even more bizarre by the week.
It is probably the first and last time a Premier League footballer will ever be able to respond to the question asking why he was booked with, for imitating a seagull. But that is where we are now at as these incompetent officials regularly try to make themselves the centre of attention. The whole thing seems very Howard Webb like.
Into the second-half, Mitoma cut inside from the left wing and looked to bend a shot into the far corner. It had Pickford sufficiently worried that he dived full-stretch. It was a statement of intent from the lethargic Brighton side who had failed to register a single shot in the first-half. Obviously they had been read the riot act by Hurzeler during the interval.
As another cross was swung in from out wide, Pickford opted to come through a sea of players to try and punch it. The short-armed keeper got nowhere near the ball and it was half-cleared by The Toffees. Joao Pedro looked to drill a shot at goal but it took a huge deflection off Mangala and the keeper was forced to turn it over the crossbar.
Another long ball forward found Rutter and Branthwaite grappling with each other. It struck the Everton defender and looped up in the air invitingly. The Brighton attacker struck it on the volley and it narrowly missed the far post with Pickford well beaten. The Seagulls were starting to knock on the door now and the visitors’ lead was at threat.
Baleba was then robbed of the ball by Gueye, who touched it into the path of Beto. His first touch was not the greatest and took him wide of the goal. The striker tried to fire a shot off but dragged it way off target. That was as close as The Toffees came to working Verbruggen in the second-half but still had their priceless lead in the game.
Brighton struggled to create anything more of note. Baleba tried a volley from distance but it was never troubling the Everton keeper. The Toffees made it back-to-back wins which took them seven points away from the bottom three. Things are looking rosy for Moyes’ side, with an all-important Merseyside derby on the horizon.
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