Both Sean Dyche and Roberto De Zerbi declared themselves satisfied with a point from the 1-1 draw at Goodison Park but the Everton manager had more cause to rue a missed opportunity than his Brighton counterpart.
Having taken a seventh-minute lead through Vitalii Mykolenko’s first goal in 18 months the hosts put up a resilient defensive performance against opponents who enjoyed 80 percent possession.
But just when it appeared they had secured a sixth win in eight games, Kaoru Mitoma’s cross deflected wickedly off Ashley Young and looped over goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
“It is definitely a point gained, they are a very good outfit,” said Dyche.
“Obviously we are very unfortunate with a massive deflection after them not having many chances at all.
“I thought the tactical side of the game was fantastic from the players.”
When Dyche reflects on the game he will see it more as two points dropped as he felt his side should have had a second-half penalty while still leading when Dominic Calvert-Lewin was wrestled to the ground by Jan Paul van Hecke.
“I know, because I was a centre-half, he (Van Hecke) is the wrong side of him. I think you do things like that because you have that moment when you think ‘He is in’,” Dyche added.
“That is a really important call and it went against us but I don’t know how it went against us because I thought it was obvious.
“I’m bound to say that, but when people see it I’ll be surprised if they didn’t think there was certainly a big suggestion of that being wrong.
“I’m not saying it is an absolute but it is a long way to being a decision which should have been given in my opinion.”
Despite the draw, Brighton’s malaise continues as they have not won a Premier League match since September and despite dominating they managed just two shots on target, neither of which was the goal.
“It’s an important point. We are not playing well like a month ago but there are many reasons for it,” said De Zerbi.
“It’s not a very brilliant moment for us but in many ways we are fighting. I think we played a good game, we didn’t shoot enough to win the game and the result is fair.
“I’m happy for the point. I am proud of the performance. We are fighting but we are not in the best moment.”
