Everton 1-4 Brighton: Bold De Zerbi makes more Albion history

Liverpool is a city which knows a thing or two about fab fours. It seems apt then that the blue half of Merseyside was where the Albion scored four goals in a top flight away game for the first time in their history, kicking off 2023 with a remarkable scoreline of Everton 1-4 Brighton.

Finding the back of the net had always been a problem under Graham Potter. Whilst the trials and tribulations Glow Up is enduring just three months into his reign at Stamford Bridge are providing constant amusement to the people of Sussex, perhaps now is the time to stop laughing at Chelsea and start thanking them?

For in paying £20 million to take Potter to West London, Todd Boehly gave Brighton the opportunity to appoint Roberto De Zerbi.

The goal woes the Albion suffered for much of Potter’s three-and-a-bit-year reign have begun to melt away to the point that no Premier League side has scored more in their past six matches than the 17 plundered by Brighton.

De Zerbi is working with the same players Glow Up had, so it is not like he has tools unavailable to Potter. The charismatic Italian has simply introduced a style of play to better unlock the potential in this Brighton squad and help them find the back of the net with such regularity that they can score four times at Everton inside an hour.

It may still be too early to make comparisons between De Zerbi and Potter, but if that does not make the new head coach an upgrade on the old one, then what does?

Potter was often bold in team selection but in a way that made little sense. Players were used out of position, almost as if Glow Up was trying to prove how clever he was to everyone with whacky ideas which often backfired.

Dale Stephens and Davy Propper as full backs, Bernardo in central midfield, Jakub Moder at left wing back and Alireza Jahanbakhsh as a lone striker were classics of the genre.

Before kick off in Everton 1-4 Brighton and De Zerbi’s team selection was brave but in a way that made total sense.

Leandro Trossard has looked distracted by the speculation over his future to the point that many Albion fans have accused him of disinterest bordering on downing tools.

De Zerbi responded to Trossard’s recent form by dropping his top scorer and replacing him with an 18-year-old making his first Premier League start.

What a decision that was. Ferguson became the youngest player since Michael Owen more than 25 years ago to score and assist in the same top flight game.

Matching the feats of Owen is a reason to be very excited about Ferguson. The teenager also became the youngest player since Federico Macheda to score in consecutive Premier League matches, having also notched from the bench in the 4-2 defeat to Arsenal on New Year’s Eve.

Comparisons to Macheda on the other hand provide a reason to treat Ferguson with continued caution. Macheda followed up breaking through in such style by rattling through 12 clubs in a 14 year journeyman career yielding 78 goals at an average of five per season.

If Ferguson is to be more Owen (minus the injuries hopefully) than Macheda, Brighton will need to better manage him than Aaron Connolly, who was awarded a bumper contract after scoring a brace on his first league start against Spurs.

Three years later and Connolly has been involved in more tabloid headlines than he has scored goals for Brighton.

Having flopped on loan at Middlesbrough and Venezia, he now seems set to be sent to Hull and Back for another loan spell attempting to revive a career which promised much but has delivered little other than making Connolly quite rich.

Ferguson was not the only youngster trusted by De Zerbi to play in Everton 1-4 Brighton. Jeremy Sarmiento came in at number 10 in place of the rested Adam Lallana.

That was another big call given how well Lallana has been playing recently and that there are 11 days until the Albion are next in Premier League action, affording the veteran a decent rest.

Sarmiento justified the faith of the manager with a dazzling display. Brighton may still look light on out-and-out centre forwards – even with Ferguson starting to establish himself as a genuine option – but there is no lack of attacking talent in supporting roles or out wide.

See Kaoru Mitoma as a case in point. The Japanese international opened the scoring with 14 minutes played via his fourth goal in six appearances since De Zerbi handed him a full Premier League debut in the 4-1 humiliation of Chelsea.

The outstanding Moises Caicedo switched the ball out to the left flank where Mitoma collected, cut inside Nathan Patterson and Conor Coady and beat Jordan Pickford with a composed finish.

Potter seemed to have a phobia of players who wanted to run with the ball instead of playing a sideways pass.

De Zerbi seems determined to let the the likes of Mitoma, Sarmiento and Solly March get on the charge as much as possible. It is thrilling to watch.

More Mitoma magic followed by a delightful cross straight to the feet of Ferguson teed up a chance for the striker. Ferguson’s shot beat Pickford but clipped the wrong side of the post.

A Ferguson drive from distance towards the end of the first half was then narrowly over. Everton fans were not impressed and booed their side off at half time.

Little could those Bluenoses – or indeed the travelling Albion contingent – could have predicted what was to come between minute 51 and minute 57.

Brighton rained in three goals to leave Frank Lampard shell shocked and quite possibly on the verge of the sack.

Pervis Estupinan slipped in Sarmiento who tricked his way to the by-line and pulled a low cross back. Ferguson showed the sort of intelligence which was once the hallmark of Glenn Murray, checking his run to make enough space from which he could easily beat Pickford when the ball fell to him 10 yards out.

Next it was the turn of March to make it 3-0. Sarmiento laid off to Ferguson who switched to March. Having waited over two years for a Premier League goal, March made it two in three games with a curling effort into the far corner from outside the box.

If De Zerbi has found a way to help March contribute five or six goals a season, then that potentially puts both player and the Albion onto another level.

Everton were all at sea by this point, a fact hammered home by Pascal Gross running from halfway to add the fourth.

Rarely if ever can the line “Gross is racing clear” have been heard on commentary before but that is exactly what happened when he seized on a comedy back pass from Idrissa Gueye and advanced 40 yards to chip Pickford.

The Albion were on for the perfect away day right up until the final minute when Robert Sanchez ruined a shutout by conceding a brainless penalty.

There appeared little danger when Isaac Price chased an innocuous chipped ball away from goal in the Brighton box.

Sanchez though came haring out to take down the Everton player, much to the very obvious anger of his defence who clearly fancied their clean sheet bonus.

Demari Gray duly beat Sanchez from the spot to make it Everton 1-4 Brighton. Goodison was though by this point half empty, Toffees fans having long since given up whilst those who remained booed their side off along with chants of “Sack the board”.

The reaction of the home support and the hapless Everton performance means much of the focus has been on Lampard’s future and the problems at Goodison.

As bad as Everton were however, Brighton were excellent. It was no hard day’s night for the Albion in Liverpool as the De Zerbi Era just keeps getting better and better.