Late Young own goal earns Brighton a point against Everton

Updated: Nov 4, 2023, 09:28 pm

A late own goal by Everton's Ashley Young rescued a point for Brighton in their 1-1 Premier League draw at Goodison Park on Saturday after a rare Vitaliy Mykolenko strike had put the home side ahead early in the contest.

Brighton forward Kaoru Mitoma's cross deflected off experienced right-back Young and looped over Jordan Pickford in the home goal in the 84th minute after Mykolenko had drilled in a close-range shot at the second attempt after seven minutes.

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Brighton are in sixth spot with 18 points from 11 games but without a win in five Premier League fixtures, while Everton stay 15th on 11 points.

Brighton had 80% of possession but struggled to create chances, though defender Lewis Dunk had a magnificent volleyed equaliser ruled out for offside in the first half.

"I'm delighted," Everton manager Sean Dyche said. "Three games in six days, the work ethic is good, we are tactically very good and improving all the time. It was a blow to concede, we kept them quiet.

"Brighton are a good side, they use the ball well and don't lose faith in it. We should have done better on the counter at times."

Everton took the lead when Dwight McNeil's cross was deflected into the path of left-back Mykolenko.

His initial shot was well saved by goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen but the Ukraine international drilled the follow-up into the net for his second Everton goal.

Brighton thought they had levelled seven minutes later when Dunk thundered home a brilliant volley but he had strayed narrowly offside from the free kick.

Dunk was denied again when he took a 25-yard free kick that was superbly saved by Pickford before Pascal Gross fired over from a good position as Brighton piled on the pressure late on.

They finally scored for the 27th consecutive game in the Premier League when the excellent Mitoma found space on the left and his ball into the box was deflected past Pickford.

"We were the better team for the whole 90 minutes," Gross said. "We came here to play football. They [Everton] played for a [draw] from the first minute. We approached the game differently. I'm proud of the boys for keeping going."