Abdoulaye Doucure and Dwight McNeil scored a brace each to help Everton produce one of the high0scoring football results of the weekend in the Premier League. Abdoulaye Doucoure’s close-range goal gave the visitors, who had only triumphed once in their previous 11 league games, the lead after just 33 seconds. Before Jason Steele misjudged a cutback from the former Burnley winger and accidentally put the ball in his own net in the 35th minute, the superb Doucoure increased Everton’s advantage with a controlled volley from Dwight McNeil’s cross in the 29th minute. After the break, Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi made four substitutions, and the home team twice struck the post before McNeil rightly finished a strong showing with a goal of his own to sucker-punch the Seagulls in the 76th minute.
After Kaoru Mitoma’s original shot bounced against the post, Alexis Mac Allister was on hand to score a consolation goal for the home team. Amadou Onana almost scored the winning goal with the last kick of the game when he set up McNeil for an angled finish high into the roof of the net. Before Nottingham Forest hosts Southampton later on Monday, the outcome elevates Everton from 19th to 16th in the standings, two points clear of the relegation zone. With two games remaining, Brighton still holds down the seventh slot in the Europa Conference League, one point ahead of Aston Villa in eighth. However, this result put an end to hopes of entering the Champions League through the back door.
After Kaoru Mitoma’s original shot bounced against the post, Alexis Mac Allister was on hand to score a consolation goal for the home team. Amadou Onana almost scored the winning goal with the last kick of the game when he set up McNeil for an angled finish high into the roof of the net. Before Nottingham Forest hosts Southampton later on Monday, the outcome elevates Everton from 19th to 16th in the standings, two points clear of the relegation zone. With two games remaining, Brighton still holds down the seventh slot in the Europa Conference League, one point ahead of Aston Villa in eighth. However, this result put an end to hopes of entering the Champions League through the back door.
However, it is far simpler to manage fatigue when the team is winning, as was the case four days ago when Mac Allister’s 99th-minute winner against Manchester United caused the roof of the Amex Stadium to collapse. A 99 on the south coast; the holidays must be upon us. Brighton is preparing their passports, but this hurdle was utterly unexpected. On Monday, they encountered a quite different obstacle to pursuing their European ambitions. They had defeated Wolves 6-0 the previous month, and this was their third straight home game, but they were down 2-0 after just 33 seconds.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin turned Lewis Dunk with ease before finding Doucoure for a close-range finish and shoving the ball beyond Steele. Everton had only managed to score 12 goals on the road in the league before to Doucoure’s double in the last minute. The rampaging Doucoure assisted Calvert-Lewin once again as he linked up with McNeil down the left channel, and the winger’s deep cross was volleyed beyond Steele. Six minutes later, an own goal from McNeil’s cross made it 3-0 as the ball deflected off Steele’s thigh.
Despite Brighton dominating in terms of possession, Jordan Pickford had not been put to the test, and when James Garner’s attempt was excellently stopped by Dunk on the verge of halftime, Everton may have increased their lead. At the interval, De Zerbi made four substitutions as Levi Colwill, Solly March, Julio Enciso, and Evan Ferguson were all called. Brighton answered quickly away as March fired directly at Pickford. Ferguson then rose, even though it was determined that he was offside, and forced England’s No. 1 to make an incredible one-handed stop onto the post. VAR would have been involved.
“We may, of course, lose the game. Against Everton, we might fall short. We weren’t ready to contend with the huge aim in the first half, which made me dissatisfied. It’s challenging because if you’re not used to playing that many games, playing three in a row during the last session is challenging,” Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi said. “But we haven’t forgotten about our win against Manchester United if we want to grow better and set greater goals. The most important trait for huge teams is the ability to forget victories. Every game, every day, you have to be prepared to play, and today we were late getting to the stadium. They didn’t start in the second half, to put it another way.”
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