Everton capitulated to their third home defeat in a row as Brighton & Hove Albion ran riot at Goodison Park on Tuesday night.
The Blues actually started brightly against Roberto de Zerbi's side, going close to breaking the deadlock through Alex Iwobi after just five minutes. However, they soon fell behind when Kaoru Mitom fired past Jordan Pickford after 14 minutes.
Things went from bad to worse in the second-half as Evan Ferguson, Solly March and Pascal Gross all scored in the space of six minutes to turn Goodison toxic. Demarai Gray scored a consolation goal for Everton from the penalty spot, but it was too little too late for his side. And below is a look at how the national media, and the ECHO’s Joe Thomas, reported on the game.
VERDICT: Everton board can't ignore Goodison Park as angry home fans make feelings clear
RATINGS: Everton player ratings as Idrissa Gueye and three others dreadful in sorry mess against Brighton
'Lampard will find himself under scrutiny'
Paul Joyce of The Times wrote: “Brighton & Hove Albion had just scored their third goal when the first chant of “sack the board” started to ring around Goodison Park.
“By the time the visitors plundered a fourth moments later to heap embarrassment and humiliation on a bedraggled, bereft Everton side, the mood had turned more mutinous. The chorus of abuse was ratcheted up a level, a blue smoke bomb was hurled onto the playing surface and Frank Lampard could barely watch any more of the squalid capitulation unfolding in front of him.
“Lampard will find himself under scrutiny, just as all the managers in Everton’s recent history have done when results such as this arrive, but this latest ignominy has been long in the making.
“There is no disgrace in losing to a Brighton side buoyed by an infusion of youth, most notably from teenager Evan Ferguson, yet the pathetic manner in which the hosts leaked three goals in six minutes at the start of the second half to deepen relegation concerns reached new depths of ineptitude.”
'Lampard looked haunted'
Dominic King of the Daily Mail wrote: “By the end, the scene was depressingly familiar: an empty stadium, the soundtrack of mutiny, the stench of failure and a manager on the precipice.
“Everton finished 2022 by pilfering a point at Manchester City but 2023 started with a ritual embarrassment. This was the kind of night that will lead to questions about Frank Lampard’s future and will have left supporters fretting about their club’s top-flight status. It really was that bad.”
Before he added: “Lampard looked haunted as he quickly retreated from the booing. He will know how impatient and jumpy owner Farhad Moshiri gets in moments such as these and the next few days, undoubtedly, will be uncomfortable. This, after all, was a night with no redeeming features.
“A result as unexpected as the one at the Etihad couldn’t have failed to inject confidence and, sure enough, Everton’s start was bright and enthusiastic. They were on the front foot quickly and, inside three minutes, Brighton keeper Robert Sanchez had been called into action to thwart Alex Iwobi.”
'The protests were brought forward'
Andy Hunter of the Guardian wrote: “Everton fans planned to demonstrate against the “incompetent management” of owner Farhad Moshiri and the club’s board at Goodison Park next month. The protests were brought forward by an incompetent display from Frank Lampard’s team that invited a confident, stylish Brighton to record their highest scoring away win of the Premier League era.
“Chants of “Sack the board” echoed around the stadium after Brighton’s third and fourth goals and the final whistle as Goodison vented its fury with years of waste and woeful decision making under Moshiri and chairman Bill Kenwright.
“Roberto De Zerbi’s buoyant side struck three times in six second-half minutes as Everton produced the kind of error-strewn meltdown that leaves a manager fearing for his job. Brighton, everything Everton are not in terms of their excellent recruitment, clear strategy, sound financial planning and intelligent style of play, capitalised with ease to condemn Lampard’s team to a third successive home defeat and an eighth loss in 11 matches in all competitions.”
'Few will cherish a January as chaotic as the last one'
Joe Thomas of the Liverpool ECHO wrote: “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.”
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