Everton 0-3 Brighton: Seagulls start life under Fabian Hurzeler with resounding win as Toffees’ misery is compounded with Ashley Young red card
Brighton’s 31-year-old Fabian Hurzeler is the first Premier League manager born after the competition began in 1992. He didn’t find that too difficult yesterday, by the way.
Hurzeler’s Seagulls went wild against one of the competition’s most experienced managers, Everton’s Sean Dyche.
Kaoru Mitoma scored on his first appearance since February, Danny Welbeck, two years his boss’ senior, added a second and concussion substitute Simon Adingra rounded things off late on.
The first two assists were provided by The Seagulls’ big summer signings Yankuba Minteh and Mats Wieffer.
There was a standing ovation from the travelling supporters for James Milner, who is in his 23rd Premier League season – a record – but only boos were heard from the home side after the final whistle.
Everton started the new Premier League season with a dismal 3-0 defeat at home to Brighton
Kaoru Mitoma returned to the Brighton first team to open the scoring in the 25th minute
Danny Welbeck made it 2-0 for Brighton, netting in the 56th minute of the second half
Everton looked beaten until 39-year-old Ashley Young was sent off midway through the second half for a tap on Mitoma.
Dyche had hoped that limiting Everton’s pre-season trips to Ireland while their rivals toured the world would keep them fresh. It worked for the first 10 minutes, after which they were second best in terms of keep-ball and attacking potential.
Hurzeler, who was signed from promoted German club St Pauli in the summer, said afterwards: ‘It’s a very good feeling, but I don’t want to talk about myself. The players deserved this, given the way they worked in the pre-season. I’m very proud of them.
‘We struggled at times, but after a while we tried to control the game, had good chances and went 1-0 up. I’m very happy. It’s a good start, but nothing more. It’s important to stay humble.’
A dejected Dyche added: “It’s awful as a manager at half-time when the players are doing everything you ask and you concede a fairly soft goal. Then someone gets sent off and the whole feeling changes. Unfortunately I had those moments at the start of last season, headaches.
“Young knows he has to lead that and not bring him (Mitoma) down. Those turning points and decisions are huge.”
It was an emotional kick-off as the final season began at historic Goodison. After nine minutes, fans gave a stirring rendition of Super Kev in tribute to one of their great No9s Kevin Campbell who passed away in June.
The home side started well, with Jack Harrison being cleared by Jason Steele and a goal disallowed for offside, while Dwight McNeil should have done better than hit the post from close range.
Brighton’s Simon Adingra scored a third for Brighton in the closing stages of the match
Yasin Araya (center) celebrates a disallowed goal in the closing stages of the match
Referee Simon Hooper gave Ashley Young a red card in the 66th minute
Young was sent off for denying Mitoma a clear chance to score in the second half
Brighton’s new manager Fabian Hurzeler (right) has made an impressive start to life in the Premier League
The visitors showed their teeth when Joao Pedro also hit the woodwork from the edge of the box and on 25 minutes record signing Minteh showed why Brighton paid Newcastle £30million for him last summer.
The 20-year-old winger breezed past Vitality Mykolenko and had the composure to fire a cross into the penalty area, where Mitoma slotted home.
Minteh almost made it an encore when he used his superb feet to serve Welbeck the ball, who fired over.
It was a tough start for Everton in their final season playing at Goodison Park
Everton paid tribute to their late former player Kevin Campbell during Saturday’s match
But the Gambian international’s day came to an abrupt end when he was replaced after 45 minutes by concussed Simon Adingra, who had bravely blocked Mykolenko in his own penalty area.
“We were disappointed for him (Minteh), but you can’t take any risks. The player’s health is more important and we are responsible for that. I am confident that he will be back next week,” Hurzeler added.
Everton were initially awarded a penalty early in the second half when Dominic Calvert-Lewin was the victim of a foul by Lewis Dunk.
The VAR advised referee Simon Hooper to look at his monitor. Due to technical issues, he could not see the first screen. He did look at the smaller screen below and concluded that the Everton striker had stepped on his opponent’s foot rather than the other way around.
Brighton’s second goal on 56 minutes was also assisted by a new boy. Wieffer played a pass for Welbeck and with Everton’s centre-backs clear, he went to the edge of the box and scored low with his left foot.
Things got even worse for the home side on 66 minutes when Young was shown a red card for pulling Mitoma back and denying him a genuine scoring opportunity.
Milner received a huge round of applause when he was substituted in the closing stages, but the visitors were not finished taunting their demoralised opponents.
On 86 minutes, Adingra came within shooting range and buried a finish similar to Welbeck’s. He then squared for Yasin Ayari to score again, but this time the offside decision went in Everton’s favour.
That didn’t bother Hurzeler, who is younger than nine of the players who started in this match and was only nine years old when Milner made his Premier League debut in 2002.