'A lot' - Charalampos Kostoulas makes surprise admission after magic against Bournemouth
All the reaction from Brighton’s 1-1 draw against Bournemouth at the Amex Stadium
Charalampos Kostoulas said his skipper Lewis Dunk and his teammates have seen him produce overhead kicks in training many times.
The £30m summer arrival saved a point for the Seagulls in stunning style as he fired an overhead kick past a bewildered Bournemouth keeper Djordje Petrovic in the 91st minute.
Kostoulas, 18, had only been on the pitch for minutes, having replaced veteran striker Danny Welbeck in the later stages, and levelled after Marcus Tavernier controversial first half penalty.
It was the Greek striker’s second Premier League goal and follows his consolation effort in Brighton’s 4-2 loss at Manchester United earlier this season.
Kostoulas: for you it’s the first time
“Yeah, for you it's the first time that you see it but Lewis [Dunk] has seen it a lot of times in the training,” said Kostoulas to Sky Sports after the match.
“I really like this way to score or to try to score. Today the ball went into the net. I'm happy for this goal but the result could be better for us.
“We need these three points to keep pushing until the end of the season.”
The technique was excellent. The ball was delivered from the left by Olivier Boscagli and fell to Kostoulas via the bustling Jan Paul van Hecke.
The former Olympiacos striker chested the ball into the air and with his back to goal somehow twisted his body to get his strike on goal. It may not have been the cleanest connection but it did enough to gain a draw against a tiring Bournemouth side.
Dunk: Kostoulas is a special talent
“I've seen some better in training,” said Dunk. “He's definitely scored better in training but that was unbelievable.
“He's a special talent and I think you've seen glimpses and there's many more things to come from him.
“He's adapting to the country, new league and he's showing what he can do and that shows exactly there what he can do, so we've got more to come.”
Kostoulas has had to be patient since his arrival and has made just one league start and totalled just 181 minutes.
“I'm adapting day by day,” said Kostoulas. “Yeah, I like to play a lot of positions but mostly I like to be on the pitch everywhere and help my team.”
Brighton have a knack of developing young talent as the likes of Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister, Leo Trossard, Marc Cucurella and Joao Pedro have all taken their chance at Brighton before sealing lucrative moves away.
Dunk added: ”We've got a good group, a mix of senior and young players and that's what we're here to do.
“The senior boys, we've got a good leadership group to try and help the boys adapt and I think it's shown over the years, we've done a good job of that and we've created a lot of good players that have gone on to big clubs.
”We just do what we've got to do every day and make sure they get the mentality we want in this football club.”
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