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Post by Everton News. on Jan 4, 2023 5:04:52 GMT
 Everton began 2023 with a painful 4-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion at Goodison Park. Kaoru Mitoma's early strike handed the visitors a half-time lead before a damaging six-minute spell shortly after the interval saw Roberto De Zerbi's side score three goals to run away with the contest. The Blues netted a Demarai Gray penalty in stoppage-time after Alex Iwobi was brought down by Robert Sanchez in the penalty area, but by then it was far too late. Manager Frank Lampard made two changes from the side that battled to a 1-1 draw with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on New Year's Eve, with Tom Davies and Dwight McNeil given the nod in place of the suspended Amadou Onana and fit-again Ben Godfrey, as the Blues reverted to a 4-3-3 shape. Despite grim conditions, Everton made a bright start and Iwobi forced Sanchez into an acrobatic, one-handed stop down low with a shot from the left side of the penalty area after intelligent play from Dominic Calvert-Lewin to recycle an attempted cross. But Brighton, who had won three of their past four away outings heading into this one, soon gained a foothold in the game and looked a constant threat in attack. The opener came on 14 minutes when Mitoma seized on a hesitation in Everton's defence before slotting past Jordan Pickford via a couple of deflections. The Toffees immediately went in search of a leveller but were frustrated in their quest. Then a chaotic second-half spell saw Evan Ferguson, Solly March and Pascal Groß all score in the space of six minutes to consign Lampard's side to a miserable evening. Ellis Simms, who was recalled on 1 January after scoring seven goals in seventeen appearances for Championship side Sunderland during the first half of the campaign, stepped off the bench to make his Goodison debut in the closing stages. The Blues managed an injury-time consolation when Iwobi was bundled down in the area by Sanchez - Gray smashing home the spot-kick - but that could not provide any comfort on a night to forget. Next up for Everton is a trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup on Friday (8pm GMT). Everton FC |
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Post by Everton News. on Jan 4, 2023 5:25:10 GMT
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Post by Everton News. on Jan 4, 2023 5:27:17 GMT
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Post by Everton News. on Jan 4, 2023 5:29:07 GMT
Q: Those three goals in six second-half minutes. How do you reflect on that?
FL: They were three goals that finished the game. [They came from] mistakes from us, individual or unit mistakes defensively and against a team of Brighton's quality, they take a game that was probably pretty even other than the goal in the first half... I thought we could have been better but possession-wise it was pretty even, then that spell finished the game.
Q: How do you and the team come back from that? After what must have been a big half-time team talk, that must be the last thing you want to see?
FL: Yes. You can't come back from that in a game, other than showing resilience and keep playing until the end of the game to try to make things happen as you should do. Other than that, the reality is in the Premier League at 4-0 it's going to be very tough to turn that around in half an hour.
Q: Do you feel like your players did that for the last half hour?
FL: It's a difficult circumstance and I'm not here to focus on the last half hour, really. I think the six minutes of mistakes changed the game. It's very difficult playing at 4-0 when you're on the receiving end and very easy when you're winning by that scoreline. That's our responsibility because we allowed that to happen.
Q: Did you see enough in certain parts of the performance tonight to make you think that you can turn things around with this group of players and go again?
FL: Yes, because I've seen enough on Saturday in terms of parts of the performance and I've seen enough in other certain performances. What isn't good enough is the consistency of the team to get results. We have to respect Brighton - they're a good team who have come here today. I felt the first half, the look of it was what we expected because they try to play a lot and we had a lot of high regains, we had some opportunities, they play through you sometimes and sometimes you have to get stretched to go man-for-man with them. I didn't hate the first half but, obviously, the six minutes is not good enough from us and if you perform like that defensively then you will lose games.
Q: What did you say to the players afterwards?
FL: It's not time to go into dressing room talk after a result like that. I've been there before and it's about taking personal responsibility - every player and myself. It's about, 'What can I do better?' and as long as you do that and don't look left or right at anyone else, that's the only reaction you can have to days like today.
Everton FC
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Post by Avinalaff on Jan 4, 2023 5:29:56 GMT
And we thought last season was bad Club is in a mess. The obvious question is whether they can risk sticking with Frank. |
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