The 2024-25 Premier League season got underway on Friday night at Old Trafford with Manchester United hosting Fulham at Old Trafford.
United got the win thanks to a goal with three minutes remaining. They could not have been happy with their performance though.
It was certainly a fortunate victory and one United would not have earned if Fulham had not been so wasteful in front of goal.
United will provide the first opposition of the campaign for Brighton at the Amex this Saturday. The Albion will have nothing fear based on the way they dismantled Everton 3-0 at Goodison Park.
The sun was shining for those of us back home, listening to BBC Radio Sussex and the coverage provided by Johnny Cantor and Warren Aspinall.
Both teams emerged onto the Goodison turf to the ever-familiar theme tune of Z Cars. Or should I say familiar to those of us who remember the police TV series from the 1960s?
Everton kicked off with a trademark pass back to England number one Jordan Pickford, followed by a long ball forward. No Brighton fan needs reminding of the Albion’s past struggles against the tactics used by Sean Dyche, whether Everton or Burnley manager.
Johnny and Warren felt the first goal would be crucial. If it went to Everton, they could sit deep and defend for the rest of the game. If Brighton opened the scoring, the Toffees would need to chase an equaliser by attacking and they may become unstuck by Seagulls counter attacks.
Everton were first to put the ball into the back of the net. An excellent Jason Steele save gave the Toffees a corner, turned in by Jack Harrison. Luckily, Harrison was clearly spotted by the linesman in an offside position.
Brighton were next denied a penalty after Joao Pedro was brought down by James Tarkowski. Referee Simon Hooper waived away appeals, despite being 40 yards from the incident. Warren said of Mr Hooper: “He needs to get on a motorbike!”
Dwight McNeil then hit a post, collected the rebound and squared across goal. Brighton were left thanking their lucky stars no Everton player was on hand to slot into the empty net.
All of this took place inside the opening nine minutes. It was a frantic start. The Albion were not helping themselves by consistently giving away possession.
It was an edgy and uncomfortable listen through the first 25 minutes. The travelling Seagulls support could not be heard over the airwaves either, suggesting those who journeyed to Goodison were equally nervous over the start of the game.
But then Kaoru Mitoma burst into life. Collecting the ball outside the Everton penalty area, Mitoma and Welbeck combined to work possession to Yankubu Minteh.
The £30 million signing from Newcastle fed the ball back to Mitoma at the fat post for a gentle tap in. Magnificent football all round, but more importantly it settled the Albion and silenced Goodison.
Minteh was having a great afternoon until being substituted just before half time with a possible concussion injury.
We were later told that Minteh had actually been hit on the arm rather than the head and that his withdrawal was down to miscommunication.
Still, it is good to see that the Albion’s management are not taking any risks with potential head problems.
I enjoyed a half time breather and a quick thanks to the injury gods for returning Mitoma from the back issue which meant he missed the last three months of the previous season.
That breather proved important as the next 30 minutes was particularly breathless. Or as they say at the start of Stingray, anything can happen in the next half hour!
Just 90 seconds into the second half and Mr Hooper awarded Everton a penalty. VAR reviewed and told the referee to go to the screen where… nothing happened.
Despite not being able to watch the footage back himself on the pitch side monitor, Mr Hooper appeared to be told by VAR official Darren England to overturn his decision.
10 minutes later and Brighton added a crucial second. Mats Wieffer won the ball in midfield and fed Danny Welbeck, who drove straight for Pickford. Welbeck had options but opted to shoot. It proved to be the right decision as he clinically beat Pickford.
The commentary box at Goodison Park is high in the old main stand, surrounded by Everton fans. It means Johnny and Warren’s microphones often pick up the opinion of the Toffees faithful, which on this occasion were largely expletives.
Everton players as well as fans looked discombobulated. Johnny told us the Albion were looking potent on the break, giving hope that more goals would follow for the men in yellow.
This hope was increased when Mitoma took another run at 39-year-old Ashley Young, whose only answer was to grab the Japanese Bullet Train by the arm and bring him down. Mr Hooper had no choice other than to show Young a red card.
Fabian Hurzeler rang the changes in response. Lewis Dunk was given a rest, replaced by Adam Webster. James Milner and Pedro also went off. Jeremy Sarmiento and Billy Gilmour took their places.
Adingra made the most of the opportunity afforded by Minteh’s earlier removal by collecting the ball on the right, cutting in and carving through the Everton defence. He picked his spot to give Brighton a 3-0 lead with four minutes still to play.
Most Everton fans began leaving at that point, even though there was a lot of injury time to be added. I hope that our home support remains more loyal in tough moments at the Amex this season. It always strikes me the team needs more backing when being well beaten than less.
Yasin Ayari thought he had his first Premier League goal at the death, only for it to be chalked off for a fractional offside. Ayari deserved to score having impressed over pre-season. I wonder if we will end up seeing a lot of him in 2024-25?
The full time whistle brought a chorus of “Top of the league” from the away end. No other club managed to secure a bigger win than Brighton over the weekend, meaning the Albion welcome United as Premier League leaders.
Bring it on.
Tony Noble @Noble1844Tony
