Everton entered the Amex Stadium on Monday night with more than their fair share of trepidation.
It seeped from the traveling Blue bus; it pervaded from the anxious, but cacophonous away support; it clung to the determined Everton players as they took to the pitch, who knew the magnitude of the task ahead of them – defeat against one of the Premier League’s most fluid and high-octane outfits in Brighton & Hove Albion was simply not an option.
Manager Sean Dyche knew this, of course, but trepidation is not an emotion that nestles into the former Burnley boss’s mind.
Five previous trips to Brighton had been triumphant for the Clarets, with Dyche at the helm, who extended his unbeaten record at the ground to six matches with an utterly enthralling and emphatic 5-1 thumping.
The Toffees produced one of the 22/23 season’s finest displays of counter-attacking football, seamlessly transitioning from the defensive thirds upon winning the ball, fiercely rebuffing the Seagulls’ swoops.
Everton ascended from the relegation zone with their victory, now with a two-point cushion over 18th-placed Leicester City, and while the work is not done with three games to go, it was a galvanizing win of the most resounding fashion.
There were so many pleasing performances, Dwight McNeil the salient choice after scoring two goals, making one assist, and being bestowed a 9.9 Sofascore rating, while Abdoulaye Doucoure scored a brace that showcased his turnaround in form.
However, the return to form for Dominic Calvert-Lewin cannot be understated either, and indeed underpins the route to success for Dyche’s men, illuminating a pathway to prominence once again.
How is Dominic Calvert-Lewin playing?
It has been, to put it lightly, a testing couple of seasons for Calvert-Lewin, who has been decimated by injuries and consequently unable to demonstrate anything close to his full potential for the Toffees.
The 26-year-old has missed 32 matches of competitive action since the start of last term, a stricken period coinciding with Everton’s stark decline that has left both this season and last engulfed in the shadow of the relegation zone.
But against Brighton, Calvert-Lewin reaffirmed his stature as one of the most industrious and efficient talismanic forces in the English top-flight, with one scout & analyst saying that he “makes the difference again. Unbelievable footballer.”
Playing the pass for Abdoulaye Doucoure’s early opening strike on the south coast, the £100k-per-week gem recorded a match rating of 7.3, as per Sofascore, complementing his assist with success in nine of his 13 aerial battles, winning two of his four dribbles and exhibiting his defensive desire by making four clearances.
Calvert-Lewin is a gulf away from the free-flowing, prolific form he will covet. Still, undoubtedly, acutely aware of his previous exploits in scoring 21 goals in the 20/21 campaign and rising to the fore under Carlo Ancelotti’s wing, invaluable in helping the Blues record a tenth-placed finish on 59 points – just three points behind Tottenham Hotspur in a European-qualifying spot.
Though he embodies the grit and tenacity Dyche demands of his players, ranking among the top 5% of forwards across Europe’s big five leagues for aerials won and the top 16% for clearances per 90, as per FBref.
He scored a penalty in Everton’s preceding fixture, a 2-2 relegation battle against Leicester City, and is indeed beginning to reacclimatise to life in the thick of Premier League action.
It comes at the perfect time, and he could yet play a defining role in the conclusion of Everton’s turbulent campaign. He is looking for a man reborn, indeed.
