Fabian Hurzeler made a fantastic start to his tenure as Brighton & Hove Albion head coach as the Seagulls opened their Premier League campaign with a resounding 3-0 victory over 10-man Everton at Goodison Park.

Views: 7

Fabian Hurzeler made a fantastic start to his tenure as Brighton & Hove Albion head coach as the Seagulls opened their Premier League campaign with a resounding 3-0 victory over 10-man Everton at Goodison Park.

Having endured a difficult start, Brighton found their groove with goals from Karou Mitoma, Danny Welbeck and Simon Adingra securing an impressive triumph.

Mitoma rounded off a fine first-half move after being picked out by debutant Yankuba Minteh, with Welbeck adding a second in the 56th minute.

Everton’s chances of a comeback were all but halted 10 minutes later as Ashley Young was given his marching orders for a pull on goalscorer Mitoma, with Adingra adding a third four minutes from time before Yasin Ayari saw a goal awarded on-pitch but overturned after a VAR review

The result sees Brighton – at least temporarily – top the pile, with Everton propping up the table.

The Toffees thought they had begun their Goodison farewell tour in style as Jack Harrison prodded home from Michael Keane’s flick on, only for the offside flag to be raised.

But Brighton offered a warning of their attacking quality when Joao Pedro struck the woodwork and, albeit against the run of play, they took a 25^th-minute lead when Mitoma finished from close range after he was picked out at the back post by Minteh.

The youngster was later forced off with a concussion at halftime.

Everton seemed to have been handed a lifeline when Dominic Calvert-Lewin tangled with Lewis Dunk in Brighton’s area, but after awarding a penalty on-pitch, the VAR Chris Kavanagh advised referee Simon Hooper to review the decision. After watching a replay on the backup monitor Hooper overturned his decision after deeming that Calvert-Lewin had stood on Dunk. 

Sean Dyche’s frustrations only grew when Idrissa Gueye’s loose pass was punished by Welbeck, who coolly swept home from the edge of the area to put Brighton in complete control.

Young became the oldest player to receive a Premier League red card after a heavy touch led him to pulling back Mitoma, and Adingra was on hand to add further gloss to a convincing win with a fine finish from outside of the box in the 86th minute.

Ayari thought he had got in on the act late on, but saw his effort disallowed for offside after a VAR review.

Club reports

Everton report | Brighton report

Referee: Simon Hooper. Assistants: Adrian Holmes, Simon Long. Fourth official: Darren Bond. VAR: Darren England. Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis.