It was a rarity when Brighton were without the ball, so it was surprising it took them until the 84th minute to equalise and even more so given they needed an Everton defender to score the goal.
It was a clash of styles at Goodison Park as Sean Dyche’s banks of four watched Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton enjoy 80% possession. Everton have come a long way under Dyche and will feel they should have held on, only to see Ashley Young divert Kaoru Mitoma’s cross over Jordan Pickford to cancel out Vitalii Mykolenko’s seventh-minute opener.
“It is definitely a point gained – they are a good outfit,” Dyche said. “The players are adapting to most of the challenges that are coming their way. Evertonians are seeing a team that is putting everything into a game and I think they saw that today. These are building blocks, we are not the real deal yet, with what we are looking for with consistency and mentality. The mentality was excellent today.”
Brighton’s approach often results in players popping up in unexpected places but on this occasion it was Everton who pulled a trick out of the hat. Dwight McNeil collected the ball on the left flank before drilling a low cross into Mykolenko at the near post, the full-back took a touch and fired at Bart Verbruggen. The goalkeeper reacted by parrying with his right hand but the ball went straight back to the Ukrainian to fire into the roof of the net via a Lewis Dunk thigh, leaving them a mere 83 minutes to keep Brighton at bay.
Dunk had the final touch on a potential goal at the other end but with greater intention and venom than his involvement in the first. A free-kick was lifted to the back post by Pascal Gross to the England defender who showed the technical ability that the modern centre-back requires by sending a powerful, side-footed volley into the top corner beyond Pickford. Then, however, VAR intervened and the minutes passed as Michael Oliver’s lines adjudged the goal should be ruled out for offside leaving the Everton fans celebrating for a second time.
Dyche’s Everton resemble what he built at Burnley in terms of shape and style, which helped stymie Brighton. He has brought discipline to a side that lacked it under Frank Lampard, who endured a 4-1 defeat to Brighton at home in January and was soon shown the door. Ten months on and they can no longer be accused of leaking goals, which will make it all the more frustrating that they could not hold on against Brighton.
The return of Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been a boost to Dyche, bringing a much-needed threat in the final third and helping Dyche’s side play on the counter because he can hold the ball up and chase direct passes over the top. The striker caused problems for the Brighton centre-backs and Dyche told the referee he should have earned a penalty after grappling with Jan Paul van Hecke in the box in the 81st minute, but complaints were waved away and VAR did not see fit to change referee Tim Robinson’s mind.
One element holding back Dyche’s plan to sit deep and absorb pressure is the lack of viable options on the bench. When an opponent has the ball for more than three-quarters of the match, it is mentally and physically draining for a team but Dyche’s only changes came after the equaliser when he made a double substitution in the 90th minute. Brighton looked the fresher side going into the final stages of the match and Everton were made to pay for their fatigue.
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The result leaves Brighton winless in five Premier League matches. They are lacking the tempo and creativity they have shown at their best under De Zerbi but they merited an equaliser. It came from the left, as did most of their attacks, when Mitoma found some space and the unfortunate Young could only send the ball into his own net.
“It’s an important point, we are not playing well like one or two months ago but there are reasons for it,” De Zerbi said. “We are fighting, I think we played a good game. We didn’t shoot enough to win the game and I think the result is fair.
