17 August 2024
Everton 0 Brighton 3
Goodison Park was rocking as The Toffees kicked off their season with Brighton the visitors. Despite all the negativity of seasons gone by, Everton had made six signings in the summer, giving fans some hope of things being different. Not that things tend to pan out that way for the club recently, they have flirted with relegation far too many times.
Sean Dyche’s side started in positive fashion as Harrison picked the ball up on the right and cut inside onto his left foot. He hit a thunderous shot at goal but Steele did well to parry it away, at the expense of a corner. As the cross came in, it was headed back across goal from the back post for the Leeds Utd loanee to slot home. Celebrations were short-lived as it was ruled out, with the player stood in an offside position prior to the goal.
The Seagulls then were almost gifted a goal when Tarkowski got into all sorts of trouble on the ball in his own box. Joao Pedro looked to take it off him and got bundled to the floor. The referee waved away penalty appeals and Everton went straight down the other end with Doucoure. He squared the ball to McNeil and a goal looked certain. Somehow, he could only strike the inside of the post with his effort and dragged the rebound well wide.
At this point the game was end to end stuff with both sets of fans on the edge of their seats. Brighton came forward with Joao Pedro and he opted to shoot from outside the box. The strike had Pickford well beaten but sadly for the visitors it came thundering back off the frame of the goal. So early on in the game and both sides were left wondering how they had not taken the lead.
As an Everton attack broke down Mitoma ran clear with the ball. Brighton managed to work it to Minteh out wide, who put it on a plate for the Japanese international at the back post. He volleyed home to give the visitors the lead and silence Goodison Park. Well apart from the away end, they were celebrating like Chelsea had shown interest in one of their players.
The goal didn’t change the game and both sides continued to come forward. As The Toffees looked to cross into the box, it was half-cleared by the visitors. It dropped to Gueye some 25 yards out and he struck it first time towards goal. The ball whistled over the bar with Steele happy to see it sailing over, narrowly. It was a warning for The Seagulls that Everton were hungry for an equaliser.
After the interval, Brighton were almost the architects of their own downfall. They gave the ball away on the edge of their own box and it was worked out wide. As the cross came in, Calvert-Lewin went down under the challenge of Dunk. Simon Hooper immediately pointed to the spot. VAR checked it and sent the referee to the monitor. There was no contact from the defender at all and the decision was reversed.
Most of the referees in this league are incompetent. But Simon Hooper would be the queen of the hive. Some of his decisions make you wonder whether he has just landed on this planet moments before kick-off. The fact that he can make so many mistakes and still have his job makes you wonder what he did before this. Was he in charge of the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl? Was he on the lookout post at Pearl Harbour? We will never know the history of his monumental errors.
Everton then gave the ball away in the middle of the park and Welbeck came charging forward. He shifted the ball from right foot to left and side-footed his shot into the bottom corner. There was no way Pickford was going to get anywhere near it with those arms. Fabian Hurzeler’s side had doubled their lead and were looking good value for it as well.
Dunk then looked to go direct from defence to attack, searching for Mitoma. Young tried to control the ball on his chest but the tricky Japanese winger got away from him with the ball. The Everton defender pulled at his opponent, who went to ground. There was no hesitation from the referee who immediately produced a red card. The irony was that the aptly named Young became the oldest player to be sent off in a Premier League match at 39-years-old.
Down to ten men, Everton were no longer at the races. Had they in fact been a horse, many would have been readying the bolt gun. Brighton dominated the closing stages and almost scored on a couple of occasions. Only saves from Pickford were able to keep the score at a semi-respectable state. The Toffees continued to keep giving the ball away, inviting The Seagulls to attack them.
As a pass was played into Adingra on the right, he cut inside onto his left foot and placed a shot in the bottom corner to rub salt into the wounds. At this point the away fans were already singing ‘is there a fire drill’ as Goodison Park emptied rapidly. This was a timely wake-up call for Everton fans that the dark days are not over and this could be another testing season.
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