Brighton 0 – 1 Everton
Depleted Everton won back-to-back games for the first time this season as they held off sustained Brighton pressure and successfully protected the slender lead provided by Iliman Ndiaye’s first-half penalty.
In his 700th Premier League match, David Moyes’s side were forced to play out the final quarter of an hour with 10 men after Orel Mangala had to withdraw through injury when the Blues had used all three of their substitution windows but they doggedly saw it through to claim three precious points.
Everton were unchanged from the team that started against Tottenham last Sunday but lost Dominic Calvert-Lewin after just 12 minutes when the striker pulled up with a suspected hamstring injury on a day where attacking chances for the visitors were few and far between.
Indeed, it was all Brighton for long periods of the contest but the Seagulls’ fans would come to be as frustrated by their team as Everton’s committed defending.
Tariq Lamptey and Kaoru Mitoma enjoyed some early success down the Toffees’ right flank but apart from a cross-cum-shot by the former and a Joao Pedro header from the same player’s delivery, they didn’t create much of note.
Lamptey drew a foul from Jesper Lindstrøm in the 28th minute but the free-kick came to nothing and it was an infringement at the other end by Joël Veltman that led to Everton taking the lead three minutes before the end of the regulation 45.
Substitute Beto tussled with the Dutchman for the ball as it ran towards the byline and replays would show the defender clearly sweep the ball behind with his hand. Referee Tim Robinson was sent to the pitch-side monitor by Video Assistant Referee, Graham Scott, and duly awarded a penalty that Ndiaye confidently stroked past Bart Verbruggen.
In time added on for stoppages, Carlos Baleba struck a speculative shot from distance wide but there was a concerted effort from Brighton to level matters early in the second period.
Mitoma flashed a shot wide in the 50th minute, Jordan Pickford had to see a deflected Joao Pedro effort onto the roof of his net, Jarrad Branthwaite got in the way of a stinging drive from Baleba and Yasin Arayi looped a half-volley over as Everton dug in.
Fabian Hürzeler introduced Georginio Rutter to bolster his attacking options and he would come as close as the Seagulls would get to scoring when he held off Branthwaite and lashed a shot that missed the post by inches.
Chances to break and relieve pressure for the Blues were few and far between and when they came, they were spurned by Abdoulaye Doucouré and Beto before Mangala limped off with six minutes of normal time to go.
Meanwhile, Baleba volleyed over the crossbar, Welbeck had another effort deflected over and James Tarkowski made a vital block at his near post as Everton clung on.
The win puts clear daylight between the Toffees and the relegation zone and, together with the victory over Spurs, has lifted the gloom that had enveloped the club during the final weeks of Sean Dyche’s tenure.