Everton capitulated to their third home defeat in a row as fans streamed out of Goodison Park early and sections of the fanbase chanted for the board to be sacked.
Three goals in six damning second half minutes ended hopes the Blues could salvage something from a crucial game as they sought to build on what had been a s pirited performance just days earlier at Manchester City.
The 4-1 defeat placed pressure on Frank Lampard and the Everton hierarchy as the club fights to avoid a second gruelling relegation battle in a row. By the second half, with the home fans stunned at the events unfolding before them, some of the loudest chants came from the away end as they sung in favour of their former player Neal Maupay.
AS IT HAPPENED: Everton thrashed 4-1 by Brighton in a dreadful night at Goodison
EFC RATINGS: Idrissa Gueye and three others dreadful in sorry mess
But the calls that held most potency were those from a section of the crowd for the Everton board, already underway as the crowd watched in horror when Pascal Gross pounced on an Idrissa Gueye backpass to score the visitors' fourth.
Everton now begin 2023 in the same way they started last year - deep in trouble. Few will cherish a January as chaotic as the last one, but with the club just one point above the relegation zone fears of another war against the drop are growing. Much has changed behind the scenes at Finch Farm in the last 12 months, with a strategic review launched by the board with the intention of avoiding a season like the last one leading to the appointments of Lampard and a host of others.
But while sustainable, long-term improvement may be a legitimate ambition, the problems of the present persist and are an unavoidable priority. The stark threat of another relegation battle led some to turn beyond the footballing side of the club - the sole focus of the review - and to the long term leadership of chairman Bill Kenwright and chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale as a crowd that had responded to calls to back their players vented their frustration.
On the pitch, Lampard watched much of the second half with his arms folded on the edge of his technical box. His side had started brightly, pressing high and snatching the ball in the middle as Idrissa Gueye, sitting deepest of the midfield three in the absence of Amadou Onana, snuffed out trouble in front of the Blues defence.
Alex Iwobi forced a diving save from Robert Sanchez before Dwight McNeil fired straight at him as Everton, who so often this season have struggled to make the opposition keeper work, had two shots on target in the first seven minutes.
Brighton rode that early pressure and showcased their threat, the warning coming when Solly March beat Vitaly Mykolenko then found Kaoru Mitoma at the back post. His header flew harmlessly over the bar but minutes later he pounced on a ball that evaded Nathan Patterson, took advantage of the space to cut into the box and then fired past Jordan Pickford.
The home fans responded well and so too did the players, but they struggled to create as Brighton settled into protecting their lead while retaining their danger on the counter - Evan Ferguson hitting the outside of the post and then firing just over from 20 yards as the hosts struggled to enforce control. It was only in the final minutes of the first half, as Ferguson was booked for a late tackle on Gueye and a flurry of corners and a Demarai Gray effort from 20 yards made Sanchez work, that Everton gained any momentum.
In the build up to this match there were calls for the home crowd to dig into their reserves of passion and back the players as they sought to climb away from trouble. They did - but when Ferguson fired in from close range the realisation dawned this was set to be another night of disappointment and frustration.
Three minutes later March had time and space to pass beyond a helpless Pickford and, just three minutes after that Goodison paused in shock as Gross took advantage of Gueye's mistake.
From there, the game drifted into a tame finale until Gray scored from the spot after a penalty was won by Iwobi in stoppage time. Beyond that, perhaps the most notable moment was the applause that greeted the introduction of Ellis Simms, recently recalled from a loan spell at Sunderland.
That was until the end, when the initial silence that sounded on the final whistle resounded around Goodison. The Grand Old Lady was shellshocked until Seamus Coleman received applause after clapping fans in the Gwladys Street before there were more calls for the board from some parts of the crowd.
Those in charge, at Finch Farm and the club's Royal Liver Building offices, face a new year with more questions than answers but with one task: Preventing this famous old stadium from spending its final full season as a venue in English football's second tier. They urgently need to work out their solution to that problem.
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