[스포티비뉴스=김한림 영상기자·장하준 기자]The flow of Japanese national team member Kaoru Mitoma is unusual.
After joining Brighton in 2021, Mitoma left for one year on loan to Union in the Belgian League. And this season, Brighton started using Mitoma, who returned from rental in earnest.
Mitoma has the ability to stir the side with a flashy dribble. As a result, at the beginning of the season, it was used as a replacement card to shake the opponent’s defense, which lost its stamina at the end of the game.
However, he regained confidence by scoring his debut goal in the Brighton League against Wolverhampton last November, and on the 31st he scored a comeback goal against league leader Arsenal.
And Mitoma, who started the Everton away game on the 4th, scored the opening goal in the 14th minute of the first half. As soon as Mitoma received the ball from the side, he quickly penetrated the center. Everton’s defense momentarily became a scarecrow, and eventually scored two goals in a row.
Brighton won 4-1 thanks to goals from Mitoma and goals from Evan Ferguson, Soli March and Pascal Gross.
Meanwhile, Everton’s coach Frank Lampard, who fell into a 6-game winless streak with a complete defeat that day, was put on the brink of hardship.