Everton 1-1 Brighton
by James Nalton
at Goodison Park

EVERTON can count themselves unlucky not to have held on to win against Brighton on Saturday despite their opponents dominating possession.

Brighton finished the game having had 80 per cent possession, but their equaliser came via a fortunate deflection off Ashley Young.

Everton took the lead within the first 10 minutes through Vitaliy Mykolenko.

Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen saved Mykolenko’s first attempt, but his second found the back of the net via a deflection off Lewis Dunk.

Dunk had a goal disallowed for offside, while Everton remained a threat on the break.

But too often the home side gave the ball away with careless dribbling or a poor final pass.

It meant Brighton remained in the game as much as they remained on the ball.

Their striker, Evan Ferguson, had only touched the ball 15 times by the time he was subbed off on 68 minutes.

It was an indication of how difficult the Everton defence made it for the visitors to create chances in dangerous areas.

Everton had 10 shots to Brighton’s eight despite the possession disparity, but the second goal they craved, and eventually needed, never came.

There were a couple of shouts for penalties for Everton. 

The strongest claim was when Dominic Calvert-Lewin appeared to be wrestled to the ground in the box by Jan Paul van Hecke, but it wasn’t enough to convince the referee or VAR to award a spot kick.

The equaliser came with around five minutes to go. Karou Mitoma burst down the left, eventually losing Jack Harrison and sending in a hopeful cross. 

It hit Young and looped in over Jordan Pickford who could have done better.

Both managers were happy with the point.

"It’s definitely a point gained, they’re a good outfit,” said Everton manager Sean Dyche.

“We’re obviously very unfortunate with a massive deflection after them not having many chances at all.

“The tactical side of the game was fantastic from the players.”

Brighton manager Roberto de Zerbi said: “I’m happy for the point and proud of the performance, but we are not in the best moment.”