Everton breathed life and fire into their Premier League survival bid with a five-star victory over Brighton at the Amex Stadium on Monday afternoon - amid what was a barely believable few hours in the most intense relegation scrap over recent seasons.
A stunning performance from The Toffees was led by Abdoulaye Doucoure and Dwight McNeil as they each helped themselves to two goals in a 5-1 verdict which has sent shockwaves across the top-flight and - finally - moved Sean Dyche and his side away from the bottom three.
While there is further work to do to confirm safety, Everton are now in pole position to do so after watching Leicester City and Southampton slip to defeat. Here is our round-up from the national publications as Everton celebrate a job well done - for the time being at least;
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Rachel Steinberg, from The Independent, wrote;
"Dwight McNeil scored a second-half brace as Everton temporarily climbed up to 16th and two points clear of the Premier League relegation zone to dampen Brighton's European dreams with a thumping 5-1 victory at the Amex Stadium.
"It was a shocking first half for the seventh-placed hosts, who fell behind after 33 seconds through Abdoulaye Doucoure, who went on to complete a first-half double.
"Albion's woes were exacerbated when goalkeeper Jason Steele turned the ball into his own net and McNeil added another for Everton in the second half.
"Alexis Mac Allister was able to claw one goal back for the home side, but the rout was firmly recorded when McNeil scored his second late in stoppage time."
Dominic King, from The Daily Mail, wrote;
"In that split second, as Dwight McNeil rounded Jason Steele and celebrated before he had even put the ball in the net, the troubles of a club in turmoil evaporated.
"Everton have been so dislocated from happiness that you wondered if it would ever return, but in the 76th minute there it was: 3,000 fans, who had undertaken a 550-mile round trip, deliriously bounced on the South Stand; a coaching staff under pressure to deliver roared as their tension released.
"Few had given Everton chance of succeeding at Brighton and many anticipated this would be a day when they were pushed ever closer to the brink but, in adversity, a group of players with questions to answer conjured the club's best away day since a 1-0 win at Old Trafford in December 2013.
"Numerically, this was their most emphatic victory on the road since beating Burnley, managed then by Sean Dyche, 5-1 on Boxing Day, 2018 but plain numbers don't do this justice. Brighton, who have become everyone's second club, were flattened; in the process, Everton rose from the dead.
"McNeil was an emblem for it all, a marauding runner with a left foot like a magic wand, but everywhere you looked you saw outstanding quality - Dominic Calvert-Lewin looked like an England striker, Yerry Mina was a giant, Abdoulaye Doucoure a totem. What has taken them so long?
"There are still three games to go in this most torturous relegation battle and, therefore, plenty of time for Everton to mess things up yet it seems inconceivable how, with this spirit, desire and quality, it will be they who slither into the Championship."
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Nick Ames, from The Guardian, wrote;
"The score-line is not a misprint. Everton really did come to Brighton and produce one of the season's most stunning results, taking their opponents apart with as lethal a display of counterattacking as anyone present will witness.
"A team that began the day as the country's lowest scorers, winless in their previous 13 away games to boot, confounded every expectation and ignited their bid to escape relegation. The muckiest, grubbiest of victories would have sufficed but instead they delivered a spectacular evening's work.
"At the outset it seemed far more likely that Brighton, with their smart operations and often exquisite style, would be lauded for embodying everything Everton are not. Instead this was, in the moments that mattered, men against boys.
"Most of those instances came during a first half in which Sean Dyche's players, ahead within 33 seconds through Abdoulaye Doucoure, smothered Brighton's attacking efforts and swamped them going forward. The outstanding Dwight McNeil, who finished with two goals and two assists, led the way but their entire attack was relentless. A team packed with six‑footers won through speed and guile as well as physical power.
"Everton were canny and clinical: Dyche may be wondering where this kind of form has been hiding for most of the campaign, although he felt they had not been far from clicking in the draw with Leicester."
Joe Thomas, from The ECHO, wrote;
"Blue smoke has clouded vision and choked throats for two trying seasons - sometimes in hope, sometimes in desperation - but rarely in celebration.
"On the south coast, against all the odds and with Everton seemingly clinging on to the failure of others as the best route to Premier League survival, that all changed.
"After Abdoulaye Doucoure put the Blues ahead after fewer than 40 seconds the raucous celebrations that followed were still tinged with the fear of the pressure and nerves that would likely follow over the next 89 minutes.
"Remember those incredible scenes at Leicester City at the end of last season - images of joy in the sunshine that went around the world? This was that party on steroids in the drizzle of a bank holiday evening and with hope and disbelief once again the drug fuelling the beautiful chaos."
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