Three goals in a five minute period succumbed Everton to one of the most embarrassing defeats in recent times as Brighton ran riot at Goodison Park.
The Seagulls took an early lead through Kaoru Mitoma who got another goal after scoring against Arsenal on the weekend.
Frank Lampard’s side handled Brighton after that goal up until half-time but whatever the former Chelsea legend said to them at the interval did not work as seven minutes into the second half the visitors had doubled their lead.
Youngster Evan Ferguson who had hit the post in the first half got on the end of Jeremy Sarmiento’s cross to suck any hope out of the Goodison faithful.
Then it went from bad to worse as Roberto De Zerbi’s men smelt blood and Solly March cut inside far too easily to blast the ball past Jordan Pickford a few minutes after the Ferguson goal.
Two minutes later it was four as Idrissa Gueye practically but a goal on a plate for Pascal Gross as his back pass did not find Pickford allowing the midfielder to run through and chip over England’s number one.
The Blues got a consolation goal in stoppage time thanks to a Demarai Gray penalty after Alex Iwobi was fouled by Robert Sanchez.
Everton now find themselves three points off the bottom of the table with all the sides below them having a game in hand leaving Lampard in serious trouble.
Player ratings
Jordan Pickford: 5
Made a handful of saves to stop it from being five nil to Brighton. Couldn’t have done a lot to stop the goals.
Nathan Patterson: 2
A really poor night for Patterson as he totally misjudged the flight of the ball for the first goal allowing Mitoma to get in with ease. The Japanese had the beating of him at every given moment.
Conor Coady: 2
Was sent for the echo for the first goal by Mitoma when it looked so obvious what he was going to do. Was also poor for the second goal as he couldn’t stop Sarmiento’s cross.
James Tarkowski: 2
Was wasteful in possession throughout the night and it was a pitiful attempt to stop March’s shot for his goal. Looked well off it from the first ten minutes as it looked like he had last his temper with every Brighton player on the pitch.
Vitaliy Mykolenko: 2
March beat him far too easily on almost every occasion which was keeping in with the theme of the whole backline. Didn’t offer any attacking threat either.
Tom Davies: 3
Couldn’t get on the ball enough to have an impact as Moises Caicedo ran the game in the middle of the park. Was dragged off after the fourth.
Idrissa Gana Gueye: 2
Was also dragged off after setting up the fourth goal for Brighton. An anonymous performance to say the least. Looks a shadow of the player who started the season.
Alex Iwobi: 4
Was one of the view bright sparks for Everton as he looked sharp and lively when he got the ball but he couldn’t get on it enough. Won the penalty through perseverance.
Dwight McNeil: 2
Reluctance to use his right foot meant he struggled. Poor in a creative sense especially when Calvert-Lewin was always in the box.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 3
Didn’t have any service and anything that got put in the box he fought hard for. Had an effort which he dragged wide. A positive for Everton that he managed to not get injured.
Demarai Gray: 5
Was a consistent threat every time he got on the ball. Looks set to be a key player for Everton in yet another relegation dogfight. Professionally scored the penalty.
Substitutions:
Abdoulaye Doucoure (Dwight McNeil 58): 4
Added something to the midfield and had a chance to grab a consolation.
Isaac Price (Tom Davies 58): 3
Like Doucoure added some sort of fight and composure to the middle of the pitch.
Seamus Coleman (Nathan Patterson 63): 3
Was an improvement on Patterson as his experience made sure the score line didn’t get anymore embarrassing.
Neal Maupay (Idrissa Gueye 63): 2
Done nothing of note against his former club. A really poor transfer so far.
Ellis Simms (Dominic Calvert-Lewin 83): n/a Came on and fought for a few long balls. First appearance since getting recalled from Sunderland.
