Everton spurned the opportunity to register their first league win of the calendar year when they conceded a Lewis Dunk equaliser deep in added time against ten-man Brighton.
Sean Dyche’s team appeared to be on the verge of ending an eight-match winless league run when their young centre half Jarrad Branthwaite scored with a laser-guided effort midway through the second half. Their chances of victory were enhanced further when the Brighton midfielder Billy Gilmour was sent off for a bad challenge on Amadou Onana ten minutes from the end, but Everton were ultimately kicking themselves at the final whistle.
“The second half was a good away performance,” Dyche, the Everton manager, said. “We had dealt with everything they had at that stage. I was only frustrated that nine minutes goes up for extra time and that changes the whole stadium. They throw more bodies forward and we should have dealt with that better but I am pleased overall.”
The game had been relatively uneventful and evenly matched until Everton took the lead in the 72nd minute. More than half of Everton’s goals this season have come from set pieces and here was another. Jordan Pickford came out of his penalty area, close to the halfway line, and launched a ball into the Brighton box, where Ben Godfrey jumped, taking out two defenders in the process. The ball dropped kindly for Branthwaite and his shot arrowed across the goal and into the top corner, giving the goalkeeper, Bart Verbruggen, no chance of keeping the ball out.
However, from there they lost their way slightly. Dyche has complained that his side have been psychologically affected by the long delay in announcing the results of their appeal against a ten-point deduction for breaching Profit and Sustainability Rules. With Gilmour sent off eight minutes after their goal was scored, Everton didn’t seem to know whether to stick or twist.
Dyche’s side failed to control the pace of the game as the finishing line beckoned. Beto could have put the game out of Brighton’s sight when he got behind Dunk, but he blasted over and then he was beaten far too easily by the silky touch of Pascal Gross from a short corner deep in injury time. A lovely piece of skill by Gross was followed by an equally excellent cross and then a great header by Dunk, who rose above Godfrey in the air.
“The most important Everton quality is the set pieces and the second ball, and we knew that and worked to prevent it, but maybe it is not enough,” Roberto De Zerbi said, with the Brighton head coach again in trouble for dissent after being given a yellow card for comments made to the fourth official. De Zerbi also bemoaned the injury-enforced absence of their Japan international, Kauro Mitoma.
“I don’t like making excuses, but we are playing too many times with injured players because if we lose Mitoma and other big players it is a problem for us. We don’t have 25 players of the same quality.”
Brighton & Hove Albion (4-2-3-1): B Verbruggen 6; T Lamptey 6 (J Veltman 59min, 5), JP Van Hecke 6, L Dunk 7, I Julio 6 (P Estupinan 59, 6); P Gross 7, B Gilmour 5; S Adingra 6, F Buonanotte 6 (J Enciso 72), D Welbeck 6 (A Fati 59) , E Ferguson 5 (A Lallana75min) Booked De Zerbi (dissent) Sent off Gilmour.
Everton (4-4-1-1): J Pickford 7; B Godfrey 6, J Tarkowski 7, J Branthwaite 7, V Mykolenko 7; J Harrison 6, I Gueye 6 (A Onana 71min, 6), J Garner 6, D McNeil 6; A Doucoure 6 (A Young 89), D Calvert-Lewin 6 (Beto 67, 6) Booked Tarkowski, Beto, Onana.
Referee T Harrington.
