Koeman Under Pressure Following Run of 3 Games Without a Win
Everton manager Ronald Koeman finds himself under intense pressure as Everton extend to a run of three games without a win in all competitions. Anthony Knockaert scored late on to give Brighton the lead, but an even later Everton penalty saved them a point following a dismal performance.
Brighton looked to stay compact from the get-go, dropping into two banks of four that Everton consistently struggled to break down. Both teams were toothless going forward - with a distinguishable lack of quality in the final third.
Brighton came close to opening the scoring half an hour in, when Lewis Dunk powered the ball towards the Everton net. A battle in the area saw the ball fall to the feet of Dunk, and were it not for the heroics of Michael Keane, who threw himself in front of the ball - the home side would have taken an unlikely lead.
In a largely uneventful first half, Glenn Murray was caught offside a plethora of times and you could sense the frustration amongst the crowd boiling over. The teams would go into the break with it still all to play for, with a huge room for improvement.
Brighton's Davy Propper could have been sent off following a horror tackle in the early moments of the second half. Launching his foot into the leg of Idrissa Gueye, the referee deemed a booking a worthy punishment - a clear mistake given the harm it could have caused.
The game began to liven up as the second half continued, with Brighton looking the most likely to break the deadlock. The home side relied on crossing heavily to have any sort of threat going forward - with no clear-cut chances created just yet.
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A huge loss to Brighton could be Shane Duffy, who was forced out of action after 20 minutes with a groin problem. The centre-back was arguably Brighton's best player of the match, marshalling the defence and preventing any Everton chances being crafted.
However, it would be a grandstand finish as Anthony Knockaert scored his first Premier League goal this season. With a rebound falling to his feet 12 yards out, Knockaert slammed the ball home and sent the home fans into disarray with 10 minutes to play. The Frenchman must have thought he had won the game, but there would be another twist in the tale.
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Everton would equalise very late on, when Bruno sunk his elbow into Calvert-Lewin and the referee awarded a penalty. Following a forgettable performance from Wayne Rooney, the skipper stepped up and converted with ease - driving the ball low into the bottom left corner; Mr Reliable.
A draw was probably the fairest result but may cost Ronald Koeman his job nonetheless - Everton looked berate of any ideas or creativity. Failing to test the keeper enough, the Merseyside club are still evidently suffering from the loss of Romelu Lukaku.
