Brighton & Hove Albion 1-5 Everton: Visitors climb out of relegation zone with stunning win

Everton produced a superb display of counter-attacking to climb out of the Premier League relegation zone with a stunning victory that dented Brighton's European ambitions.

An extraordinary first half saw the visitors go ahead after just 34 seconds, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin squaring for Abdoulaye Doucoure to tap in after Seagulls captain Lewis Dunk had been badly caught out.

Mali midfielder Doucoure added Everton's second just before the half-hour mark with a precise volley, into the right corner from Dwight McNeil's cross.

McNeil was then heavily involved as Sean Dyche's side extended their lead, driving towards the byeline and seeing his low cross deflect off the foot of Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele into the back of the net.

A shambolic first period saw Brighton booed off at the interval, fortunate not to have suffered the embarrassment of being four goals down, with Dunk blocking James Garner's close-range effort on the stroke of half-time.

A mightily impressive performance from Everton, who repeatedly threatened on the break during the first half and defended stoutly in the second, saw them add their fourth when McNeil raced on to Alex Iwobi's incisive pass to round Steele and slot into an empty net.

Roberto de Zerbi's side, who were much improved after making four half-time changes, saw substitute Evan Ferguson (twice) and Alexis Mac Allister hit the woodwork, before they finally managed a scrappy consolation with Kaoru Mitoma's sliding effort rebounding off the post and bouncing in off Mac Allister.

A wonderful McNeil effort in added time, that flew into the top corner, ensured Everton had the final say as they moved out of the drop zone in style, to sit 16th in the table after leapfrogging Nottingham Forest, Leeds and Leicester City.

Forest host bottom side Southampton at 20:00 BST on Monday.

Meanwhile, Brighton remain seventh, seven points behind fifth-placed Liverpool, with two games in hand.

Toffees find clinical edge in sensational fashion

Many Everton fans travelled down to the south coast more in hope than expectation on the back of a seven-game run without a win.

They had also been hammered 4-1 by Brighton at Goodison in January when the Toffees' players completely fell apart. And prior to kick-off you would have had to trawl down to the eighth tier of English football to find a club with fewer league goals than Everton's 27 this season.

However, they found their clinical edge in sensational fashion as their supporters joyously celebrated in the stands.

Calvert-Lewin's turn away from Dunk set the tone in the build-up to the first goal, with the England forward delivering a fine display in only his fourth start in three months.

There were numerous others that excelled including Doucoure, who was out of favour before Dyche's arrival, and scored twice for the first time in the English top flight.

Aside from his two goals, the second of which involved wonderful composure, McNeil, who covered more ground than any other visiting player (12.76km) also made telling contributions when tracking back to help out his defence.

Nathan Patterson also largely nullified the threat of Kaoru Mitoma, while James Tarkowski and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford both made important interventions to keep the hosts at bay.

More to follow.

Player of the match

McNeilDwight McNeil

Brighton & Hove Albion

Squad number27Player nameGilmour

Squad number28Player nameFerguson

Squad number10Player nameMac Allister

Squad number7Player nameMarch

Squad number22Player nameMitoma

Squad number20Player nameEnciso

Squad number13Player nameGroß

Squad number25Player nameCaicedo

Squad number30Player nameEstupiñán

Squad number5Player nameDunk

Squad number4Player nameWebster

Squad number23Player nameSteele

Squad number18Player nameWelbeck

Squad number6Player nameColwill

Squad number21Player nameUndav

Squad number40Player nameBuonanotte

Everton

Squad number7Player nameMcNeil

Squad number3Player namePatterson

Squad number16Player nameDoucouré

Squad number1Player namePickford

Squad number9Player nameCalvert-Lewin

Squad number17Player nameIwobi

Squad number2Player nameTarkowski

Squad number13Player nameMina

Squad number19Player nameMykolenko

Squad number27Player nameGueye

Squad number37Player nameGarner

Squad number8Player nameOnana

Squad number20Player nameMaupay

Line-ups

Brighton

Formation 4-2-3-1

23Steele

13Groß4Webster5Dunk30Estupiñán

25Caicedo10Mac Allister

40Buonanotte21Undav22Mitoma

18Welbeck

Substitutes

Everton

Formation 4-2-3-1

1Pickford

3Patterson13Mina2Tarkowski19Mykolenko

37Garner27Gueye

17Iwobi16Doucouré7McNeil

9Calvert-Lewin

Substitutes

Live Text

Match ends, Brighton and Hove Albion 1, Everton 5.

Second Half ends, Brighton and Hove Albion 1, Everton 5.

Goal! Brighton and Hove Albion 1, Everton 5. Dwight McNeil (Everton) left footed shot from the left side of the box to the top left corner. Assisted by Amadou Onana with a through ball following a fast break.

Lewis Dunk (Brighton and Hove Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Foul by Neal Maupay (Everton).

Attempt missed. Levi Colwill (Brighton and Hove Albion) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Pascal Groß with a cross following a corner.

Corner, Brighton and Hove Albion. Conceded by Dwight McNeil.

Attempt missed. Moisés Caicedo (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Evan Ferguson.

Attempt blocked. Billy Gilmour (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Pascal Groß.

Corner, Brighton and Hove Albion. Conceded by Vitalii Mykolenko.

Attempt saved. Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.

Substitution, Everton. Neal Maupay replaces Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Substitution, Everton. Amadou Onana replaces Idrissa Gueye.

Attempt blocked. Billy Gilmour (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Pervis Estupiñán.

Corner, Brighton and Hove Albion. Conceded by Nathan Patterson.

Attempt missed. Levi Colwill (Brighton and Hove Albion) with an attempt from the right side of the six yard box is too high. Assisted by Kaoru Mitoma following a corner.

Attempt missed. Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Pascal Groß with a cross following a corner.

Corner, Brighton and Hove Albion. Conceded by Nathan Patterson.

Corner, Brighton and Hove Albion. Conceded by James Tarkowski.

Attempt blocked. Moisés Caicedo (Brighton and Hove Albion) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Evan Ferguson.

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