Blues steal a draw from the jaws of victory after stalling massive Brighton effort

Everton 1 - 1 Brighton & Hove Albion

Everton are back at Goodison Park for this weekend's Premier League fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion and a real test to see if Sean Dyche can build on recent good results.

He has most of his players available, but not Seamus Coleman, who turned out for the U21s against Manchester Utd at lunchtime in Leigh for the final stages of his rehabilitation from a serious knee injury.

Sean Dyche continues to show greater trust in the erratic Ashley Young than his young Scottish understudy, Nathan Patterson. And Gana returns in midfield with Onana not even on the bench. 

Sean Dyche confirmed that Amadou Onana misses this afternoon's game due to a tight calf: "Amadou, unfortunately, has been playing with a really tight calf and it’s just been too much for him after Wednesday."

Dominic Calvert-Lewin makes his 6th successive start since overcoming his injury misery. 

Brighton kicked off and kept things pretty tight, denying Everton much of the ball without getting very far. Calvert-Lewin flicked on a deep free-kick from Pickford. McNeil crossed in and it fell for Doucoure but his first-time volley was straight at  Verbruggen.

Mitoma made his first surge down the left, leaving Tarkowski in his wake. Everton forced a turnover and McNeil got his cross in again, Mykolenko scoring well after first firing straight at Verbruggen before taking a second bite of the cherry, thanks to a deflection off the thigh of Dunk. 

Young did well to keep the ball away from Milner but Brighton continued to hog possession and build with a lot of unadventurous sideways and backwards passing until they drew a questionable foul from Branthwaite.

Dunk fired in a brilliant volley on the run, off the bar, from an excellent deep free-kick delivery. But the VAR review showed how close the offside call was, which it was finally called after a good 3 minutes of deliberation at Stockley Park.

In contrast, Everton were playing long-ball up to Calvert-Lewin, who almost got onto a Brighton backpass. Doucoure did great to fight Dunk for the ball and break down the left, Gilmour booked for his protestations. 

Brighton resumed their passing game, with the Blue shirts chasing shadows at times, its speed and accuracy too good to be defeated by any pressing. But Everton again forced a midfield turnover and Calvert-Lewin was a bit lucky to win a foul from Dunk's body charge as the ball went through to Doucoure who should have scored but the whistle had gone. Garner's attempt flashed over the wall and the bar. 

Milner almost broke the offside trap but Pickford was out quickly to clear. Harrison and Calvert-Lewin got in each other's way in another break as the game became quite stretched. 

Everton tried their version of the passing game, Tarkowski driving through the middle, until the ball was lost and Garner had to defend. More slick Brighton passing ended at the feet of Calvert-Lewin, who stormed all the way upfield only to scuff his poor shot wide of the Brighton goal. 

More dominant Brighton possession failed to penetrate the Everton area through disciplined defensive work but the Blues weren't really using their rare moments on the ball very well, Harrison losing it when double-teamed. 

More crisp Brighton passing eventually saw the ball given away again, and Everton then drew a foul but Pickford's long punt was headed behind by Tarkowski.

McNeil was floored by Veltmann in the corner of the penalty area but the referee waved play on despite a mass of Goodison boos, but Calvert-Lewin may have pushed Veltman into McNeil. Gana was then booked for a foul.

Branthwaite seemed to have picked up a knock and was called for another foul. Brighton finally got forward with more pace, Veltman crossing along the 6-yard line but fortunately no-one else was up with him as the whistle went after 4 added minutes with Everton ahead.

After the restart, Brighton won their first corner which ended with Dunk fouling Gana. More fine Brighton passing ended with a deep cross in to Pickford. 

Tarkowski was drawn into a foul on Gilmour in the Dee with Doucouree tapping his ankles from behind: yellow card. A clever dink over the wall by Dunk into the corner was seen all the way by Pickford. The corner was headed clear but Gana had to clear the ball out of play as Brighton's efforts seemed to step up a notch. 

Everton's competitive effort showed an increase too with McNeil crumbling over a Brighton defender after the ball had been scooped away from him and the Goodison faithful demanded a penalty (no chance).

The vibrant atmosphere showed that the match had entered a critical phase, with Everton's dangerous game plan working so far to frustrate Brighton's obviously better but less effective football.  A really strong Brighton attack was again thwarted by a Tarkowski header away. 

Garner's stretching tackle brought down Mitoma for another Brighton set-piece, Calvert-Lewin collecting the ball and bringing it away skilfully along the left touchline.  

Mitoma skipped past Young, the ball squirming back to Gross who lashed it over. McNeil got forward and Doucoure forced the concession of a corner that was cleared. 

Everton became stretched on a promising attack that was rapidly countered, a real warning as Pedro's shot was blocked and then fired in as a low cross that Pickford gathered. 

Everton attacked again, Harrison feeding McNeil who screwed his shot inches wide. Doucoure was next to surge forward and play in Calvert-Lewin but Dunk was too clever to let him have a sniff as the tempo of the game upped another three notches, a tremendous contest. 

Branthwaite touched Fati as he ran past the big man and he was yellow-carded. The free-kick chipped in but then headed clear by Tarkowski. However, it came back into the Everton area but Mitoma wellied the half-chance high and wide, well off target.  

A deep free-kick from Pickford saw Calvert-Lewin dragged to the ground but no penalty given and Tarkowski's annoyance was seen in his late tackle that earned him a yellow card. 

Brighton attacked again and this time, Mitoma saw his cross deflect up off Young and cruelly over Pickford into the net, what a really jammy goal to level it. 

That left Brighton 5 minutes plus added time to go for the winner they now knew they could get, while Everton, with no subs on the field, would need every ounce of resolve to resist the coming onslaught. 

Still, Everton pushed forward and forced a corner. The ball bobbled goalward into a crowd but did not cross the line. Everton continued to swarm at Brighton, Mykolenko winning another corner. Dyche finally made a change, Beto and Patterson on for Calvert-Lewin and Young as 4 more added minutes were shown.

Tarkowski put his header on target from the corner but it was saved. Then Brighton got forward and Garner had to give up a corner, which was cleared. Brighton continued to get forward, with Mitoma crossing from the wing. 

One last effort from Brighton was again denied but they had done enough to get a point when Everton held all three in their hands for so much of the game but could not hold on to them all at the end of an absorbing contest. 

Everton:  Pickford, Young (90' Patterson), Tarkowski [Y:81'], Branthwaite [Y:78'], Mykolenko, Gana [Y:44'], Garner, Doucoure [Y:54'], Harrison, McNeil, Calvert-Lewin (90' Beto).

Subs not Used: Virginia, Lonergan, Keane, Godfrey, Danjuma, Chermiti, Dobbin

Brighton & Hove Albion: Verbruggen, Veltman, Dunk, van Hecke, Adingra (90' Igor Julio dos Santos de Paulo), Milner (79' Buonanotte), Gilmour [Y:20'] (68' Fati), Mitoma, Gross, Lallana (46' Joao Pedro), Ferguson (68' Dahoud).

Subs not Used: Lamptey, Webster, Baleba, Steele.

Referee: Tim Robinson

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