Post Match report for the Everton game - Saturday, 3rd November 2018
PREMIER LEAGUE; Everton v Brighton
ALBION NOT THAT GOOD UP GOODISON ROAD
VENUE; Goodison Park, Liverpool. Sixth away game of 11 fixtures.
RESULT; 3-1 ~ Dunk . (h-t 1-1) . SHAPE; 4-5-1 . REF; new to the div but kept a low profile.
OVERTURE; precedents had been set prior to kickoff, with three clean sheets in a row from single goal wins.
Statistically congruent repetition was now forecast in single percentages. But Brighton fans did not want local history repeating here whatever the odds.
GATE; 38,966
CHRIS HUGHTON had Propper & Gross still unavailable. His subsequent choices for the team-sheet followed habitual thinking as usual.
TEAM; . . . . . . . . . 1 Ryan
. . 2 Bruno, 4 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 3 Bong
. 16 Jahanbakhsh, 6 Stephens, 7 Kayal, 19 Izquierdo
. . . . . . . . 20 March, . . . . . . . 17 Murray
BENCH; 23 Steele, 30 Bernardo, 14 Balogun, 10 Andone (77), 9 Locadia, 8 Bissouma (70), 11 Knockaert (63).
GOALS; 26 - 1-0. Following a miscued Brighton corner Everton break quickly and find their striker free in the area.
33 - 1-1. DUNK opens his account with a near-post header, assisted by March from a corner kick.
50 - 2-1. Locals begin the second period on the front foot with wingbacks pushing up. One finds the net from range.
77 - 3-1. The home team make the win certain when after defensive mistakes their striker goes one on one with Ryan.
INCIDENTS; 48 - hosts long range effort hits the post immediately after the interval. 88 - Duffy is down but not out at edge of the pitch.
YELLOWS; 10 - Dunk is forced into taking out his man.
SUBS; 63 - Knockaert replaces Izquierdo as flankman. 70 - Bissouma comes on for March as visitors shore up midfield. 77 - with the match lost, Andone gets an initial run out - in lieu of Kayal.
ANALYSIS; Seagulls were out fought and out classed by the unofficial but so-called, seventh side. The gulf between top teams and those others from the average or middle order group was something obvious today.
If Albion are to survive, consolidate and flourish in the league they have to aspire to such levels on the very long road ahead to campaign completion.
Previous defensive qualities got exposed for reality when hosts upped the ante. The truth is Brighton are generally below par over a lengthy series of matches - which is where their mean position shall tend to settle.
NUMBERS; poss 61%-39%, on target 3-3, off target 9-0, corners 6-4, fouls 9-17, yellows 0-1, subs 2-3, MoM - Dunk.
Fatmanslims
TABLE:
Po . Pl . GD . Pt
12 . 11 . -04 . 14 BRIGHTON
13 . 11 . -04 . 11 West Ham
14 . 10 . -06 . 8 Palace
15 . 11 . -13 . 8 Burnley
16 . 10 . -08 . 7 Southampton
17 . 11 . -07 . 6 Newcastle
18 . 11 . -15 . 5 Cardiff
19 . 10 . -17 . 5 Fulham
20 . 10 . -17 . 3 Huddersfield
