Report and free match highlights as Lewis Dunk earns 10-player Brighton a point in a 1-1 draw with Everton; Jarrad Branthwaite fires the visitors into second-half lead before Billy Gilmour is shown straight red card; Dunk heads in 95th-minute equaliser from Pascal Gross' cross
Sunday 25 February 2024 08:01, UK
Lewis Dunk headed in a 95th-minute equaliser to earn 10-player Brighton a point and maintain their long unbeaten run at home with a 1-1 draw against Everton.
Jarrad Branthwaite had slammed Everton into a shock 73rd-minute lead before Billy Gilmour was sent off late on as Brighton looked to be heading for their first league defeat at the Amex Stadium since August.
But captain Dunk, on his 400th league appearance for the club, rose to head in Pascal Gross' injury-time cross to earn a deserved point after the hosts, who recorded 23 shots, had failed to capitalise on dominating possession throughout.
Brighton gained ground on sixth-placed Manchester United, now trailing them by five points, while Everton are one point above the bottom three and without a league win in nine games.
Brighton started fast but were wasteful which set the tone for their performance. Danny Welbeck passed up three opportunities in the opening 20 minutes while Simon Adingra sent a powerful shot just wide of the top left corner.
Everton created only one chance in a one-sided first half, yet it was probably the best of the lot. A cross from Vitalii Mykolenko looked destined for the head of Dominic Calvert-Lewin until Dunk intervened and glanced the ball behind.
Roberto De Zerbi received his yellow card of the season early in the second half after protesting too vociferously that James Tarkowski deserved a second booking for a foul on Welbeck.
Brighton then had a huge let-off when Dwight McNeil's cross was volleyed goalward by Abdoulaye Doucoure - Everton's first shot of the match - with Tariq Lamptey brilliantly heading it clear from underneath the crossbar.
Everton had grown into the game and started believing they could steal a victory. The moment came when Branthwaite took a touch in the box before hammering an effort into the top right corner.
Eight minutes later things got worse for Brighton as Gilmour was sent off for his studs-up challenge on Amadou Onana.
But Brighton laid siege to the Everton goal despite the setback and Dunk towered above Ben Godfrey to head into the right corner during nine minutes of added time to deny them a crucial victory.
Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi:
"In the end, one point is better than zero but it's tough to accept this result. We deserved to win, we created many chances to score. We suffered one shot when Tariq Lamptey saved the goal and then we conceded the goal.
"I don't love making excuses but we are playing too many times with a lot of injured players. If we lose Mitoma, Ansu Fati, Enciso, it's difficult because the level of the players is not the same. Without Mitoma it is a problem with us.
"We are playing too many games without too many important players. We have eight or nine draws and for it, we do not have the right standing."
Everton manager Sean Dyche:
"After a tough first 20 when they were the better side, we grew into the first half and I was very pleased with the mentality with that.
"It's not an easy place to come when they're passing and moving. We regathered ourselves, that's not an easy thing to do during a game. We managed to get the message on and they took hold of it.
"The second half was a really good away performance. Controlling the game without the ball at times but never really looking too open or in trouble. Then we score a really good goal and then you're only frustrated by the fact nine [added minutes] goes up.
"We all know the drama around these minutes but more the fact that it changes the whole stadium. If four goes up everyone goes 'Yeah, ok'. But nine, they keep throwing bodies forward and we didn't deal with that so well. That was the frustrating part, just that last nine minutes when I thought we could have dealt with that better.
"On the other hand, on balance, Brighton have only lost one at home this season and we come down here and take a point. It's a valuable point on the table."
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Brighton visit Wolves in the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday, kick-off 7.45pm, before taking on Fulham at Craven Cottage in the Premier League at 3pm on Saturday March 2.
Everton, meanwhile, host West Ham in the Premier League at Goodison Park at 3pm on the same day.
