Everton’s progress under new manager David Moyes continued apace as Iliman Ndiaye’s controversial first-half penalty secured a 1-0 win against Brighton at the Amex Stadium.
It’s now five domestic Premier League games without a win for the Seagulls, who felt wronged when referee Tim Robinson awarded a penalty on VAR advice after Joel Veltman was adjudged a player inside the penalty area.
Ndiaye converted the penalty (42) to give Everton back-to-back wins under Moyes – and their first on the road since October – with them now seven points clear of the Premier League relegation zone.
After back-to-back away wins in the league, Brighton are still looking for a home tonic this season and remain ninth in the table with 34 points.
“There is no penalty,” Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler said at the crucial juncture.
“So VAR cannot enter into this situation. If the referee decides like this, then the game should continue, and then VAR is not needed for this. It is not a pure handball.
“He [Joel] he felt the touch, and when he felt the touch, then of course the normal reaction is that the hands come, and then the hand went to the ball, so it cannot be a penalty.”
As Everton continued their good record at Brighton
Everton had to play more than 15 minutes, including stoppage time, with 10 men after using all three substitution periods. Dominic Calvert-Lewin was the first of those in the opening period as his injury woes reared its head again, replaced by a suspected hamstring strain.
But such is the spirit that runs through these players now under Moyes, the spirit and fight always seemed to get them over the line.
Tensions flared after the final whistle with James Tarkowski and Carlos Baleb both booked for brawling, but Brighton will ultimately look back on a bad day at the office where Jordan Pickford was not troubled.
The hosts had 33 touches in the opponent’s penalty area, but sent only one shot on goal all afternoon – a speculative shot by Baleba. He now has three points from the last 12 available at Amex.
Hurzeler, the youngest manager in the Premier League at 31, took on the oldest, 61-year-old Moyes, and the German admitted ahead of the game that he may have to dip into the transfer market to strengthen his defence.
But having not won at home since beating Manchester City in November, their attack lacked penetration in an opening 45 minutes dominated by one big incident.
Everton, chasing just their second away win in the Premier League in their last 22 away games, were awarded their first penalty of the season as Veltman palmed a long ball into the corner.
Beto was under pressure and the home fans clearly felt the striker pushed him to use his arm – but VAR Graham Scott advised referee Tim Robinson to point to the spot.
“I have to say, I actually think it’s a definite penalty,” claimed Moyes. “I think he used his hand. I can understand that maybe they think Beto was applying pressure, but Beto’s job is to apply pressure.
“The defender’s job is to find a way to kick the ball out or let it go. If he had kicked the ball into the corner earlier, maybe he wouldn’t have had a problem. But it definitely hits his hand. My feeling was a penalty.”
Ndiaye blocked the noise to save his penalty after Bart Verbruggen’s dive before celebrating in front of the home fans by imitating a seagull.
Brighton produced more in the first five minutes of the second period than in the entire first while Georginio Rutter was introduced. It was his flick on the turn that sent Pickford wide, not long after Kaoru Mitoma’s curling effort from the edge of the goal.
But in truth, Everton only looked concerned when an injury to Orel Mangala meant they had to play with 10 men in the closing stages. After making a big breakthrough last weekend at Manchester United, this was a step back for Hurzeler as Everton extended their unbeaten run at this stadium to four games.
Hurzeler: Not much went our way
Brighton safe Fabian Hurzeler: “I think we’re disappointed, we’re frustrated with the result. I think it was a game where we tried a lot, but not a lot of things went the way we expected, and then you lose a game like this.
“We still had enough time [after the penalty] to turn the game around and we have to be honest with ourselves that we weren’t at the highest level and that’s why we lost the game, and then we have to think and reanalyze and move on.
“They defended with 11 players around the penalty area, we weren’t precise and clean enough to find a solution for that. I think we tried, but we weren’t clean enough, we weren’t at the highest level, we weren’t sharp enough in counter-pressing to get the ball back, which is as fast as possible, and it’s hard to win a game like this.”
Moyes: The players deserve a lot of praise
Everton safe David Moyes: “I’m absolutely delighted. It was a bit of a back-and-forth for a long time, but they did it very, very well. Getting points in our position is the most important thing and the players fought incredibly hard to get on.
“They had to finish, they probably played 15-20 minutes with 10 men, so I think you have to give them incredible credit for their performance. It was action at the back, but for all that Brighton had possession and shots, they weren’t really creating many clear opportunities.
“They told me they had one shot on goal but it does Brighton a disservice. Brighton are a really good side and play well and really good football. I think there was probably a bit more credit in how well we defended.
“Balls in the penalty area, around the penalty area, the goalkeeper. For the most part, we defended the corners very well when we were under pressure. So, again, kudos to the players for their play.
“It’s the first back-to-back wins we’ve had all season. We’re in a position where we need to get points, while Brighton are three wins in a row and nine unbeaten. So to come to Brighton and get a result is quite a result for us.”
Brighton’s run is over – Opta stats
- Everton’s David Moyes picked up just his second Premier League win against Brighton and Hove Albion, having won just one of his first 10 league games against the Seagulls (D5 L4), all as West Ham United manager.
- Everton have won back-to-back Premier League games for the first time this season and the first time under David Moyes since a run of three in March 2013 (against Reading, Manchester City and Stoke City).
- Brighton and Hove Albion lost for the first time in seven Premier League games (D2 D4 before today), making it their longest unbeaten run in a single season from December 2021 to February 2022 (a run of 7).
- Everton’s Jordan Pickford picked up his sixth Premier League yellow card of the season, the third consecutive season in which he has picked up at least five; no other goalkeeper has done so in more than one season – it was Pickford’s 23rd yellow card in total, bringing him level with Ederson as the second most-capped goalkeeper in Premier League history (Jussi Jaaskelainen, 24).
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