A fine finish from Pascal Gross was not enough to secure victory against Everton and ease tension after a testing week for the Seagulls.
Brighton were decent from the start and were cheered on by a lively home crowd. Good to see after a toxic week on social media.
Albion almost took the lead as Danny Welbeck's clever close range back heel forced a reaction save from Jordan Pickford. Welbeck was then just a whisker off target with a free header from Maxim De Cuyper's corner. Welbeck's reaction said he should have scored.
Kaoru Mitoma was next to narrowly miss after he linked well with Welbeck but his dinked effort fell just wide of the far post.
It then became all quite dour. Everton lacked ambition but blocked space, closed gaps and Fabian Hurzeler's team struggled to find a rhythm.
Everton’s best chance arrived on 67 minutes and Bart Verbruggen was at his best to deny Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall what looked like a certain goal.
Hurzeler has spoke about fine margins all season and for once it went their way. Soon after Dewsbury-Hall’s miss, the excellent Yasin Ayari burst into the box and his cross was cleverly left by substitute Charalampos Kostoulas and Gross swept home.
But as is the way with Brighton at the moment, they found a way to throw away the points. A late cross into the box was half cleared and substitute Beto smashed home. The pressure mounts on Hurzeler.
Here’s how they rated...

5. Jan Paul van Hecke - 6
A typical Van Hecke display. 100 per cent commitment, threw himself into challenges and drove into midfield at the right times. | Getty Images
.jpeg?crop=4:3&trim=&width=800)
6. Maxim De Cuyper - 6
Needlessly gave the ball away at times but was steady enough and delivered well from set pieces. Replaced by Veltman on 70 minutes. | Getty Images

7. Yasin Ayari - 7
A nice assist from Gross’ goal. A real athlete in the midfield and linked the play well from deeper areas. Showed why Forest bid £20m for him. A key man for Brighton and has been for a while. | AFP via Getty Images

8. Carlos Baleba - 6
Looks a bit better following his return from the Afcon. Spotted danger and decent in possession but faded badly towards the end. Perhaps he should have been replaced by Milner? | Getty Images


