The toffees start the season with a lashing at Goodison Park, as Brighton and Hove Albion dismantle Dyche’s shorthanded Everton.
Everton went into the first match of the campaign up against it, missing out on the services of Jarrad Branthwaite, Nathan Patterson, Seamus Coleman, James Garner, and Youssef Chermiti. Due to the number of injuries on the backline, Ashley Young was deputized at right back while Michael Keane was selected to partner James Tarkowski in the center. New summer signing, defender Jake O’Brien, was left on the bench as Dyche felt that the new man from Lyon needed more time to acclimate himself to life in the Premier League.
The blues came flying out of the blocks early, and nearly made it 1-0 only five minutes in. Tarkowski launched a long-ball up to Jack Harrison on the right wing. He cut inside dangerously and fired on target, forcing a save from Brighton keeper Jason Steele. Following the save, Harrison had the ball in the back of the net from a corner, but the winger was offside as the header from Michael Keane came down. The next 15 minutes saw a good performance from everton, Joao Pedro hit the post from Brighton but otherwise the home side looked confident and willing to play against their opposition. Specifically, the new man in the middle Tim Iroegbunam delighted as Idrissa Gueye’s midfield partner, breaking up the play and bringing the ball forward comfortably. Unfortunately his and Harrison’s bright starts to the match were not enough to see the first breakthrough, with Brighton opening the scoring in the 25th minute.
In a less than surprising twist, a man nearly signed by the toffees was the creator of their downfall. Yankuba Minteh did well to beat Mykolenko on the wing before whipping across the box. Mitoma was unmarked at the back as the toffees were seemingly asleep at the wheel and he only had to tap in to put the visitors ahead 0-1. Dyche’s men lost a bit of their bite after the goal, and the rest of the first half swung heavily towards the seagulls. Of note, Minteh went down injured near the end of the first half and was replaced by Simon Adingra after collecting a debut assist for his side.
Everton looked seemingly revitalized coming out of the tunnels, and thought they had won a penalty only 3 minutes into the second half. Jack Harrison capitalized off a poor Brighton giveaway deep in their own half. He played the ball to Calvert-Lewin in the box who was then seemingly brought down from behind by Lewis Dunk for a penalty. However, the referee was called over to the VAR monitor, where it was later revealed that the monitor was actually inoperable and not showing anything. Despite this, the VAR overruled the on field referee’s decision, and said no penalty. Quite the hammer blow for the blues, knocking the wind out of the sails and perhaps leading to the lapse for the second Brighton goal in the 56th minute.
Gueye was the culprit of a poor turnover, Welbeck ran at goal as Brighton’s numbers advantage provided him all the impetus he needed to get forward. It was a simple finish once he was inside the 18, curling it past Pickford for 0-2. A disastrous 10 minutes for Everton, and Dyche would look to respond with his first change of the match. Iliman Ndiaye was brought on for his league debut, replacing Doucoure who quite honestly was not as effective as perhaps the toffees would have been hoping on the day.
Despite this change, the hosts would almost immediately take themselves out of the game for good, as Ashley Young was shown a red card in the 66th minute. He showed poor control on a long ball, and was subsequently beaten to it by Mitoma. The Brighton man torched him for pace, and the right back responded by pulling him down from behind. As the last defender, he was shown a red card for his efforts. Beto and Mason Holgate would eventually be introduced for Calvert-Lewin and Jack Harrison, but it ultimately had little bearing on the match. The visitors would add a third as Welbeck sliced up the blues’ defense, finding Adingra who finished cooly for 0-3.
The seagulls would add on a 4th late, but the VAR mercifully found that Ayari was slightly offside. The last 30 minutes or so was something of a training exercise for the visitors after Young’s red card. The blues never really rekindled their spark after their penalty was overturned, and Young’s red card was simply far too much to overcome on a day Everton struggled to consistently get after their opposition. Iroegbunam was the bright spot in the match, with the young midfielder showing he is happy to slot in and match up at the Premier League level. Branthwaite’s absence was noted in a big way, and Young at right back was a disaster for the majority of his 67 minutes on the pitch.
Dyche and company will look to get the usuals healthy and back into the squad, and continue to incorporate the new signings, with dynamic winger Jesper Lindstrom of Eintracht Frankfurt not getting to see the field on opening day. It will be another very tough test in match two on the road at Tottenham, and with several key players seeming likely to miss out again, it will take a massive shift for the toffees to get a result. UTFT, onto match week two.
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