The beginning of the end for Goodison Park heralded the start of a potentially beautiful friendship for Fabian Hürzeler and Brighton. The youngest permanent manager in Premier League history delivered a debut to savour as the visitors spoiled Everton’s final opening day at their home of 132 years with an emphatic victory.
A determined start from Everton was a distant memory by the time Simon Adingra converted Brighton’s third goal. The margin of victory should have been much bigger. Brighton were full of energy and ideas against opponents that ran out of both and whose performance unravelled in the second half. Seasoned attendees will have been familiar with the scenes of disintegration. For the 31-year-old Hürzeler, however, first impressions were hugely positive.
“In some moments we suffered but we suffered together and defended good,” said Brighton’s new head coach. “The players showed attitude and character. It’s a good start, nothing more. It’s important to stay humble after a win like this.”
Goodison was not the only venerable, mature thing worthy of recognition. At the age of 39 years and 39 days Ashley Young became the oldest outfield player in Everton’s history. And the oldest outfield Everton player to be sent off as the afternoon deteriorated rapidly.
James Milner, seven years Hürzeler’s senior at 38, became the first player to appear in 23 consecutive seasons of the Premier League when starting alongside Mats Wieffer in Brighton’s central midfield. His customary booking arrived in the 31st minute for a foul on Vitaliy Mykolenko.
Everton started in the relentless fashion that yielded five successive home wins and clean sheets at the end of last season. Jack Harrison forced an early save out of Jason Steele before beating the Brighton keeper from the resulting corner. The on-loan Leeds winger was clearly offside when converting Michael Keane’s knockdown from close range, however.
Evertonians rose to their feet in the ninth minute to pay a moving tribute to Kevin Campbell, their much-loved former No 9 who died in June. The club will pay a formal tribute to Campbell at their next home league game, against Bournemouth, when his family will be in attendance. His is a huge loss.
Brighton counters were few and far between in the first half but Everton were vulnerable to the pace and movement of the visitors’ front line whenever they struck. João Pedro hit the base of a post with Jordan Pickford well beaten before Brighton took the lead against the run of play, but with a goal that demonstrated the individual quality of Yankuba Minteh, their summer signing from Newcastle, and the collective strength of their attacking options.
He burst past the Everton left-back Mykolenko to sweep a perfect cross to the back post where Kaoru Mitoma tapped home. The debutant was forced off before the interval due to concussion protocols, having accidentally collided with Mykolenko, and made his displeasure at the safety measure clear when heading for the tunnel. “The health of the player is always more important than any game or any win,” Hürzeler said.
Brighton’s opener showcased the pace and penetration that Everton lacked. The hosts were awarded a penalty soon after the restart when Dominic Calvert-Lewin appeared to be caught by Lewis Dunk following a mix-up in the visiting defence. Simon Hooper overturned his first call, however, after the video assistant referee sent him to the pitchside monitor to discover that Calvert-Lewin’s foot had landed on the central defender’s.
Sean Dyche said: “Their player is out of control and drags his foot along the top of Dom’s. There is supposed to be a high bar for overturning referee’s decisions this season and those decisions are massive.”
Danny Welbeck capitalised on a loose ball by Idrissa Gueye to double Brighton’s advantage. Receiving Wieffer’s pass in space Welbeck turned to attack Everton’s retreating central defence. No challenge materialised, allowing the striker to curl a cool, clinical finish beyond Pickford.
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Brighton had numerous chances to increase Everton’s torment before and after their opponents were reduced to 10 men. Hooper had no choice but to dismiss Young for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. The veteran carelessly chested a long ball into the path of Mitoma and compounded his error by dragging the Japan international to the ground as the last man.
Minteh’s replacement, Adingra, finally applied an end product to Brighton’s procession of chances before setting up his fellow substitute Yasin Ayari. That was disallowed for offside by VAR. It was Everton’s only relief.
