- On this day in 2023, Everton thrashed Brighton and Hove Albion 5-1.
- Win was only the Toffees’ second away victory of the Premier League season.
- It provided an ideal platform that the Toffees continue to benefit from today.
Everton’s famous win at the Amex Stadium in 2023 will go down as one of their most famous in Premier League history.
Sean Dyche’s side entered the game with one league away win under their belt and faced a Brighton and Hove Albion team that managed to break into the top six.
The result appeared to be a foregone conclusion, yet what followed was unrivalled madness as the men in pink ran rampant on the south coast.
Everton are now in a position where they are pushing for European football, and their win in Brighton just three years ago gave them the platform to push on and progress.
The 5-1 win made Everton believe they can thrive when the odds are against them
To put into context how unbelievable the Blues’ win at the Amex was, 15% of their goals in the 2022-23 Premier League season were scored in this singular game.
Winning against Brighton – who had previously battered Everton 4-1 just a few months earlier – was an achievement in itself, but to do it in the manner they did was sensational.
It generated a belief in the Toffees that had been missing in large chunks of the season, and made a statement that shouted when the odds are stacked against Everton, they will prove the masses wrong.
The Blues went into their next game against Manchester City with a skip in their step, but were humbled by a 3-0 defeat, yet belief remained in the fanbase.
This belief stemmed from Evertonians seeing their side crush Brighton, and they knew Premier League survival was still in their grasp.
Everton then travelled to Wolverhampton Wanderers, and as it looked like they’d crumble to a gutting defeat, Yerry Mina evened affairs at the death and ensured his team just needed three points on the final day.
In the Toffees’ final games, Abdoulaye Doucoure was essentially a main character for his team.
The midfielder bagged two in the famous 5-1 victory, but the scale of them did not come close to what he did just three matches later.
On the last day of the 2022-23 Premier League season, it was a survival shootout between Everton and Leicester City.
All Dyche’s side had to do was claim a win over Bournemouth – a team that had, at the time, scored seven goals in two games against the Blues that campaign.
It was a cagey 90 minutes, and something no Evertonian wants to go through again, but a stunning strike by Doucoure was the difference between the pair, and Everton had secured Premier League status.
In each of the following three matches after the 5-1 win, the Toffees faced moments of hardship and doubt, but after such a confidence booster on the south coast, they believed they could defy the odds.
Everton continued to show this belief in the following seasons
The 2022-23 campaign was an embarrassing one for Everton.
Dreadful performances, another managerial sacking, ownership disputes, players downing tools and more.
Yet through all of it, they still proved their team belonged in the top flight of English football.
In the following season, there was hope the Blues could now rebuild.
Until 17 November 2023.
Everton’s points deduction sent the club spiralling down the league table and into a third relegation scrap in three seasons.
The spirit of the club’s fight in 2022-23 was needed once more, but after such a cruel blow, it was questioned if they could bounce back.
And in a Dogs of War fashion, the Toffees gave one big up yours to the Premier League by responding with four successive league wins in December, to keep them above the drop.
The 2023-24 season saw the Blues finish 15th and comfortably away from the threat of relegation.
Since the scares of 2023 and 2024, Everton have been in a rebuild phase.
As they steer themselves away from the bottom, the fighting spirit that was so prevalent from the results of 2022-23 remains.
Tarkowski’s last-gasp equaliser against Liverpool in 2025, Jack Grealish’s late winner to end Crystal Palace’s long unbeaten run in this current campaign. The Blues continue to raise eyebrows.
Of course, there have been disappointments, with Evertonians needing to look no further than their past three matches, but amongst the gutting late goals and shocking defeats, this is a club that knows how to rise when they’re up against it.
With just three matches remaining in the Premier League season, Everton will need to produce the same spirit they have mustered in previous years if they are to secure their longed-for return to European football.
