‘We knew’ - what Sean Dyche said about Brighton vs Everton immediately after 5-1 victory

Sean Dyche felt that his Everton’s players delivered the game plan impeccably in their stunning victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.

The Toffees shocked everyone by routing the Seagulls 5-1 at the AMEX Stadium to move out of the Premier League relegation zone. The visitors were in dreamland after they went three goals ahead after 35 minutes via an Abdoulaye Doucoure double and a Jason Steele own goal.

Then in the second half, Dwight McNeil bagged twice either side of an Alexis Mac Allister consolation effort. It was only Everton’s second away win of the season but they’re now up to 16th in the table and two points clear of the bottom three.

Speaking to BT Sport, Dyche felt that Everton could expose sixth-placed Brighton on the counter-attack if they won possession in midfield - and those instructions were carried out ‘fantastically’.

The Blues boss said: “That was the thing - delaying and staying focused on their break. You work on it in training and it doesn’t always get delivered but we delivered it fantastically well tonight.

“I thought he [McNeil] actually lost his way a little bit second half but he has been in really good form since I got to the club. There have been a few question marks over him but he’s been terrific since I’ve been here. He’s back to enjoying what he does - carrying the ball, he’s good at that, he’s got quality, his calmness for the goal at the end was good. There were a lot of good performances tonight, a really good collective performance because we followed on from the Leicester game. We didn’t get all three points but tonight we did.

“We spoke to the players at some length and tweaked things a little bit. Brighton are in great form, having a great season and full of confidence but we knew if we quelled the game because they play very open, if you nick the ball in midfield and you’re open, it can lead to trouble.”