Brighton 1 Everton 5: McNeil masterclass moves Toffees out of relegation zone as Seagulls’ Euro hopes suffer huge dent
WHERE the bloody hell did that come from?
In a season of constant Premier League surprises, Everton pulled off arguably the biggest shock of the lot to take a huge step towards salvation.
Now the great escape is well and truly on for the relegation-haunted crisis club whose fate is finally back in their own hands after this victory which absolutely no-one saw coming.
With fewer goals than any other team in the country and only one previous away win all season, even manager Sean Dyche must have been fearing the worst ahead of this trip to Euro-chasing Brighton.
But three goals in an unforgettable first 45 minutes and a magnificent rear-guard action after the break means that all the momentum is back on their side in the increasingly frantic battle to beat the drop.
For while their next game at home to leaders Manchester City doesn’t offer too much hope, their two final fixtures away to Wolves and at home to Bournemouth now look to be a lifeline waiting to be grabbed.
This was a day that will stick in the memory of the travelling Everton fans, yet many of them hadn’t even taken their seat when their team took the lead after just 34 seconds.
And it was certainly a goal right out of the blue when Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s exquisite turn took him racing away from Lewis Dunk to tee up Abdoulaye Doucoure for a simple back-post tap-in.
The visitors were winning every physical battle as they looked to prevent Brighton from playing their passing game.
And when Doucoure struck again with an absolute peach of a volley from McNeil’s 29th minute cross, even Dyche was beginning to wonder just what the hell was going on.
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It was a goal which started with James Garner winning possession on the edge of his own area and Doucoure racing the length of the pitch to apply the sweetest of finishes.
Brighton, maybe still feeling the effects of Thursday’ night’s marathon last-gasp victory against Manchester United, simply had no answer to Everton’s speed on the counter-attack.
Every time they lost possession they looked capable of conceding as their leggy defence were pulled all over the place by McNeil, Calvert-Lewin and Alex Iwobi.
Doucoure thought he was on for a barely believable hat-trick when Everton broke at speed again in the 35th minute until Iwobi overhit his final pass.
But the French powerhouse was still able to retrieve the ball and set up McNeil to brush past Pascal Gross and fire in a low cross which flew in off the heel of keeper Jason Steele.
Yet even at three goals to the good, the Everton fans have suffered too many disappointments this season to get their hopes up too much.
And with Yerry Mina, Idrissa Gueye and Calvert-Lewin all picking up first-half bookings, there was still the fear that their team could end the game with ten men.
Yet even those concerns should have been consigned to the dustbin on the stroke of half-time when another McNeil cross picked out Garner, but with the goal at his mercy his tame shot was blocked by Dunk.
That was the final straw for furious Brighton boss Roibert de Zerbi, who made four half-time substitutions in a belated effort to salvage something from this extraordinary game.
But they had not banked on England keeper Jordan Pickford, who pulled off a string of magnificent saves to deny Solly March, Evan Ferguson and twice from Alexis Mac Allister.
And de Zerbi knew the game was up when Everton broke again from a 76th minute corner and McNeil sent Dunk and Syeele the wrong way before celebrating as he walked the ball into the empty net.
Pickford was finally beaten in bizarre fashion three minutes later when Kaoru Mitoma’s shot came back off the back post and bounced in off the head of Mac Allister lying a yard out from goal.
But there was never any chance of the visitors being knocked off course and just to make sure McNeil struck a barely believable fifth goal with virtually the last kick of the match.
It was all too much for de Zerbi, who will now be fearing for his team’s European prospects.
How Everton would love to have that problem. But for now they’ll just settle for three points and a potentially huge turning point in their fortunes.
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