Everton beat Brighton 5-1 in the Premier League on this day in 2023, giving themselves a huge boost in the battle to avoid relegation
Dwight McNeil celebrates with Abdoulaye Doucoure after scoring his team's fourth goal during the match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Everton
Dwight McNeil celebrates with Abdoulaye Doucoure after scoring his team's fourth goal during the match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Everton
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None of us were quite sure where it came from but three years ago today Everton showed in emphatic style they were capable of beating the drop under Sean Dyche.
May 8, 2023 was the date that the Blues went to the Amex Stadium and recorded a sensational 5-1 victory over a Brighton & Hove Albion side that had torn them apart 4-1 at Goodison Park on January 3 under previous manager Frank Lampard. In the space of just four months, Everton had pulled off an amazing seven-goal swing against the same opponents.
As this correspondent wrote at the time: “This morale-boosting success – as impressive as it was pleasantly surprising – has suddenly breathed new life into Everton’s hopes of avoiding the ignominy of what would be their first relegation in 72 years.
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“Manager Sean Dyche has always preached for better or for worse that merely climbing out of the drop zone means nothing and the only table that matters is the final one but this felt like something big, something potentially pivotal, like the movement of tectonic plates among those involved in this dogfight.
“Everton haven’t just shook things up on what looked like a day of destiny for the Premier League’s strugglers, they’ve caused an earthquake…
“After months of turmoil and disappointment both on and off the pitch, here was a rare highlight from a traumatic campaign, a moment to savour for beleaguered Blues who once again packed out their away allocation for a 550-mile return trip from Merseyside after being fed a starvation diet when it came to crumbs of comfort in recent times.”
There was an edge to the atmosphere from the start inside the Amex Stadium. On what was a Bank Holiday for the coronation of Charles III two days earlier, travelling Evertonians displayed some wit and humour when not participating in the singing of God Save the King by belting out Spirit of the Blues instead and within 34 seconds of the kick-off, a team who had won just once on the road all season were ahead as Dominic Calvert-Lewin picked out Abdoulaye Doucoure at the back post with the midfielder finding the net with a clever finish as the ball fell just behind him.
Another Doucoure strike – a sweetly-struck volley at the back post from Dwight McNeil’s lofted left-wing delivery – doubled the visitors’ advantage on 29 minutes, and they were 3-0 up 10 minutes before the interval when another McNeil cross was deflected into his own net by home keeper Jason Steele.
Despite their lead, Everton had to survive some heavy Brighton bombardment after the break as the hosts threw the kitchen sink at them.
Jordan Pickford had been untested in the first half but earned a score of 9 in my player ratings as he saved well from Pascal Gross and substitute Solly March before a stunning stop to push Evan Ferguson’s header onto the post and then spectacularly denied him on several more occasions. McNeil turned from creator to finisher though with a late brace to seal the win and earn himself a perfect 10.
The winger took out Steele and left Lewis Dunk on his backside with his fancy footwork to put Everton 4-0 up as he celebrated before tapping the ball into an empty net.
Even though Alexis Mac Allister snatched a consolation 11 minutes from the end, McNeil completed the rout deep into stoppage time with a shot smashed into the roof of the net which was greeted by a victory salute towards the few home fans that had remained inside the ground by this point.
Following the game, McNeil said: “Winning on the road is massive for our confidence within the camp, especially going forward into our final three games.
“Now we are out of the relegation zone, we have a massive game coming up Sunday, then after that, the last two games are massive as well. We have to rest up now and get ready for that big game on Sunday.
“It’s massive to be out of the relegation zone, but we know nothing is done yet. We have got to go right to the end and get more points on the board and that’s what we want to do.”
And so it proved with Everton only surviving the drop by a single Doucoure goal on the final day of the season at home to Bournemouth. The 1-0 win ensured the Blues avoided a first relegation in 72 years despite posting the lowest equivalent points total in their history.