Everton relied on a late Wayne Rooney penalty to rescue a point at Brighton, but Ronald Koeman felt his team were unlucky to not claim all three points on the south coast.
Rooney converted from the spot as the game entered injury time, cancelling out Anthony Knockaert’s first ever Premier League goal which handed the Seagulls the lead with eight minutes of regulation time remaining.
Everton seemed set to lose their fifth game of the season when Knockaert beat Jordan Pickford with a powerful finish, but Brighton captain Bruno gave away a spot kick with an elbow on Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
The visitors were deserving of the equaliser having put up a good fight, and it was Koeman’s side who dominated the majority of play.
And Koeman himself feels Everton were hard done by in terms of the result, with only a ‘bit of luck’ preventing them picking up all three points at the Amex.
Speaking to talkSPORT, the Dutchman said: “The turning point is the belief and the character of the players that we showed today, and then you need a little bit more luck. With a little bit more luck we go back to Liverpool with three points and not with one point.
“It was difficult. I think it was a good match, it was a match between two teams with good organisation, and there weren’t many open chances. We were the dominating team, and we took more risks than they did to win the game.”
Rooney stepped up to take his penalty and struck the ball confidently in the opposite corner to the one at which Mat Ryan dived.
It could be suggested Rooney’s spot kick has kept Koeman in his job for another week, and the manager praised the veteran forward for having the confidence to take a penalty in such a high pressure situation.
Koeman added: “It’s great to score that penalty, because normally a penalty is not most difficult to score, but in this kind of situation – 1-0 down in the situation the team is – he showed his experience and calmness to score the goal.”
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