Teenage duo give Brighton precious 2-0 win at Bournemouth

Updated: Oct 12, 2023, 03:19 pm

Teenage striker Evan Ferguson scored with a clever back-heel as Brighton & Hove Albion kept their Champions League qualification hopes alive with a 2-0 Premier League victory over struggling Bournemouth on Tuesday.

Ferguson, 18, produced an audacious shot on 28 minutes as he flicked Kaoru Mitoma's low cross into the net to score his fourth goal of the season.

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The visitors added a second in injury-time at the end of the game when Pascal Gross fed another teenager, 19-year-old Julio Enciso, who easily beat Neto in the home goal for his first strike for the club.

Brighton are in sixth place in the table with 46 points from 27 games, four points behind Newcastle United in third, while Bournemouth remain in the bottom three with 27 points from 29 matches.

Bournemouth are away at fellow strugglers Leicester City on Saturday, while Brighton travel to fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur in what could turn out to be a key battle for the Champions League places.

"Evan is an amazing player. He was not having his best evening but he showed his quality. We are really happy for him, we know how important he is," Brighton midfielder Alexis Mac Allister said.

"The club is improving in every aspect, we have an FA Cup semifinal [against Manchester United on April 23] and an important game on Saturday. We go game by game."

Bournemouth's best chance of the game fell to Hamed Traore, who found himself one-on-one with Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele in the first half but put his shot wide.

Brighton midfielder Gross saw his shot superbly saved by Neto, but the visitors were left counting the cost of the three points after injuries to key midfielders Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo forced them from the pitch.

"The consequences are if you don't take your chances, you have to push hard and you can get caught," Bournemouth manager Gary O'Neil told the BBC.

"Their boy [Ferguson] takes a really difficult chance, we had some good chances we didn't take.

"Today felt massive," he added. "This was our sixth game in a row against teams in the top 10 and we gave a good go in each of them. Tonight will hurt he boys but they will recover and go again at Leicester."