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A wonderful start for the wunderkind. A first Premier League win for the first manager who is younger than the division itself was so comprehensive that Brighton fans could chorus about being top of the table. By the time Fabian Hurzeler was born, Goodison Park had already staged Premier League football for several months. The precocious 31-year-old kicked off his valedictory season by steering Albion to a debut victory that served as an advertisement for their boldness in hiring him.
For Brighton, it was a blend of new and old. Yankuba Minteh, provider of their first goal, is a 20-year-old debutant; Danny Welbeck, scorer of the second, is in the unusual position of being two years older than his manager. Albion reaped an early dividend for plucking Hurzeler from St Pauli to replace Roberto de Zerbi. After winning promotion in his native Germany, elevation to the Premier League seemed to suit him.
If the fixture calendar suggested he could be greeted with a culture shock, an inimitably Dychean welcome to the division, Sean Dyche was instead defeated and his side depleted. Everton ended last season with five straight wins at Goodison Park but both they and Dyche have made too many slow starts to campaigns in recent years. This now has the makings of another.
And Brighton’s youth was too much for Everton’s aged, and their young. As Ashley Young became the oldest outfield player in their history, he was sent off. The 39-year-old compounded his poor touch by tugging back Kaoru Mitoma when the Japanese was through on goal. It amounted to a simple decision for referee Simon Hooper to dismiss him.
While De Zerbi was preoccupied by his debut in the Marseille dugout, he may wonder if his time at Brighton would not have unravelled had Mitoma stayed fit. The winger scored his first goal since September, starred and helped effect an immediate shift in Albion’s fortunes. They won only seven of their last 32 league matches under De Zerbi. It is one out of one under his successor.
There were some shifts in their style. De Zerbi’s policy of man-marking was abandoned. There was less deep build-up and possession. Hurzeler’s formation was 4-2-1-3 at times, almost a 4-4-2 at others. Stationing wingers high and wide forms part of his philosophy. It was no coincidence that two wingers scored, with the substitute Simon Adingra completing what became a rout with an assured finish from the edge of the box. It might have been extended when the inexperienced substitute Yasin Ayari found the net from Adingra’s cross, but he was offside.
By then, Everton had suffered enough. Mitoma’s breakthrough goal was taken adeptly after Minteh burst past Vitaliy Mykolenko and crossed. Brighton eased Newcastle’s PSR worries by buying Minteh, an Everton target for £33m; his pace and skill suggested this was no mere act of generosity, but further evidence of their prowess as talent-spotters. Minteh’s contribution was brief but explosive: concussed when clattering into Mykolenko in his own box, he was replaced before half-time. Yet another newcomer to the division – Newcastle made a profit on him, but he was loaned to Feyenoord last season – began well.
For Welbeck, meanwhile, it is a 16th season of Premier League football, which still leaves him seven behind the new record-holder, his teammate James Milner, who is seven years older than Hurzeler. Welbeck has struck in 15 of those campaigns; after Idrissa Gueye gave the ball away, the former England forward advanced to place a shot into the bottom corner.
Behind him, Joao Pedro operated as a No 10 and rattled the post from 20 yards in an eventful opening. While Brighton exerted particular control after Hurzeler’s half-time tweaks and then when Young handed them a numerical advantage, Everton were energetic and effervescent from the off.
Brighton had two early reprieves of sorts. A fifth-minute goal by Jack Harrison was disallowed for offside. In a glaring miss, Dwight McNeil struck the post when he should have scored but only after Abdoulaye Doucoure was offside; Hurzeler’s high defensive line means many an opponent may be.
Thereafter, the closest Everton came was 90 seconds after the interval when Hooper pointed to the spot. He was overruled by his VAR, Darren England, who ruled that Lewis Dunk had not tripped Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Yet it soon became a dispiriting day at Goodison; before kick-off, there were banners marking the history but, long before the end, there were empty seats.
Such optimism as Everton could muster came from the performance in midfield of the signing Tim Iroegbunam. A forceful presence, he looked well-suited to Dycheball. Yet of the other newcomers, Iliman Ndiaye was brought on with Everton 2-0 down and soon to be reduced to 10 men, and Jesper Lindstrom and Jake O’Brien were perhaps happy to remain on the bench. It was, though, a day to suggest Brighton have benefited more from a summer influx, a match for a young manager, if not a player called Young.
