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Dreamland continues for Everton, back at the top of the league after four wins out of four, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin within a double-digit goal of the season. It was already Everton’s best start to a Premier League season before Brighton was added to its casualty list, but with seven wins out of seven in all competitions, Carlo Ancelotti and his players now have historians looking for records of more. of a century.
Everton were not flattered by another impressive scoreboard, but Ancelotti will feel there is still room for improvement, especially on defense. Jordan Pickford seems like a weak point, although his occasionally erratic display didn’t matter much because the visitors had much more glaring defensive deficiencies and Everton were equipped to make the most of it.
“We were disappointed with the goals we conceded,” Brighton coach Graham Potter said. “We contribute to our own problems by not being able to defend the set pieces, and that cannot be done against a team of the quality of Everton. We have to get smarter. “
Ancelotti said he was happy with the overall performance, but advised caution. “We are very happy with the beginning, but it is only a beginning,” he said. “We have to come back after the international break and show the same spirit and attitude.”
Brighton looked organized and compact for the first quarter of an hour, but paid the price for collectively falling asleep for the first goal. Their first mistake was allowing Everton to take a quick short corner to put Gylfi Sigurdsson in position to send a cross into goal. His second was losing Calvert-Lewin’s whereabouts in the six-yard box, inexcusable given the form he’s in, so all the newly recalled England forward had to do was imperiously get up at the far post to head. Calvert-Lewin certainly climbed higher than Lewis Dunk and Ben White, whose feet never left the ground.
That start should have calmed Everton, but they didn’t do everything their own way for the rest of the first half. First Richarlison was injured for the second consecutive game, caught by Tariq Lamptey in a 50-50 challenge. Then Aaron Connolly appeared to hit a Solly March cross, only to deflect the ball down the wrong side of the vertical.
Brighton leveled through an error Pickford will want to quickly forget, blunting Leandro Trossard’s less-than-sharp shot and allowing Neal Maupay to hit the rebound down the line.
It was a soft goal to concede, but not a totally undeserved draw. Everton hadn’t been attacking with real style since losing Richarlison, Brighton had been growing in the game and Lamptey found too much room to throw the cross that found Trossard, but the home team’s lead was restored from a set piece. first. half stop time. It was an effort by all Colombians, James Rodriguez sent a free kick for Yerry Mina to climb over Adam Webster and head home, causing Brighton’s defense to unravel twice by failing to tackle the crosses.
Everton applied a bit more pressure in the second half and earned a reward when Brighton lost possession outside their own area. Calvert-Lewin slipped on Alex Iwobi but was unable to reach the center, which fell instead to an unmarked Rodriguez, who delivered the kind of shot off the far post one would expect from a player of his quality.
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Just under 20 minutes later, Rodríguez was doing it all again, his second goal was a copy of the first, except this time it was Abdoulaye Doucouré who put the cross.
Yves Bissouma’s well-scored goal in injury time was the least deserved by Brighton for continuing to attack in the second half, but his earlier mistakes had made life easier for Everton, who will have to be judged against better opposition before getting carried away. . Liverpool, the next visitors to Goodison, after the international break, should qualify.
