Sørensen pleased with Everton’s character in victory at Brighton | OneFootball

Everton manager Brian Sørensen said that his side showed character in their 2-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion at The Amex Stadium on Friday evening.

The Blue Girls are now level on points with The Seagulls in the league table after claiming the win. Karen Holmgaard headed Everton into the lead before Brighton & Hove Albion soon levelled through Tatiana Pinto. The visitors then benefited from Guro Bergsvand’s own goal as they claimed another important win on the road.

When speaking to the media after the match, Everton boss Sørensen highlighted the importance of his side’s win and expressed his satisfaction with the team’s performance and character.

“I think our performance levels have been consistent but we just haven’t been able to get the wins over the line, so we’re pleased with the girls today,” Sørensen said.

“We started fine in the first half, we controlled it. They worked hard in the press but we still tried to play and find spaces against them.

“We started the second half well, scored a good goal and then they started throwing everything at us and that’s when it became too hectic back and forth. They got one back but then we hit them straight away with Yaya [Aurora Galli] and saw it out.

“That’s what we are good at, we can work hard and grind when it’s needed. It was a good win for the confidence and for the table.”

Commenting on the reaction of his players after the equaliser in more detail, Sørensen hailed the character that they showed.

He said “With the season we’ve had, we could easily have bottled it and not showed character but I think we did, so it was really important. We scored the goal probably against the run of play. I didn’t think they were playing super-well, they were just throwing people forward and then that’s when emotion comes in; we have a lead, we don’t want to lose it.

“I think that’s where we also need to grow as a team, so that we can handle our emotions, keep doing what we’re doing and playing. It was very important that we got it in that time.”

Everton’s next fixture is against high-flying Arsenal but Sørensen doesn’t hold any fear looking towards that match.

He said “We will do what we can do there. The last time we played them, we gave them a run for their money and created a good game. We lost 2-1 and could have equalised at the end, so we’re not afraid of them.

“I think if you look at our games against the top teams, the games are close but they have really good players and that means that they need one or two chances to score, whereas we need to maybe create six, seven, eight to get a goal. That’s just a difference in quality of the players.

“I’m looking forward to the games, I think we can get something out of all of them.”

Everton’s upcoming Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Arsenal takes place at Walton Hall Park on Sunday 28 April 2024.