Brighton hammer Newcastle
THE sky seems to be the limit for Brighton striker Evan Ferguson after the teenager’s hattrick saw him join a very select Premier League club.
The 18-year-old scored with three of his four shots in Albion’s 3-1 win over Newcastle to take him up to 10 Premier League goals – one of three Premier League hattrick scorers yesterday along with Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Tottenham captain Son Heungmin.
“It’s not bad company to be in with them boys,” the Republic of Ireland striker told BBC Sport.
“Obviously Haaland broke the record last season and Son has been doing it for a number of years, so it’s good company to be in.”
Only Michael Owen (28), Wayne Rooney (15) and Francis Jeffers (12) scored more Premier League goals before their 19th birthday than Ferguson. Owen went on to win the Ballon d’Or and Rooney broke the Manchester United and England goalscoring records.
Arguably what makes Ferguson’s achievements even more remarkable is that unlike all those players, he did not come through the English football system and only
joined Brighton in 2021, having made his Bohemians debut at the age of 14.
“He could not be at a better club at the moment than Brighton under Roberto de Zerbi,” said former Blackburn striker Chris Sutton on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“At 18 years old he has great physicality. Just imagine Evan Ferguson in another three or four years with the development he will have.”
Last season Ferguson netted 10 goals in 25 Brighton games in all competitions – and this season, despite being on the bench on the opening day, he has four goals in four games.
“It’s a good day,” Ferguson said. “The first goal is a striker’s thing, you have to be ready. Luckily it fell to me and I could get it in.
“The second one, we talked about me having a bit more time than I thought in the first half. In the second half I thought I would get it and turn and tried to run at the defence and get a shot off. Luckily it went in and it all worked out.
“The third one, it was good to get it in off the mark. People are going to say it was a deflection but we’re going to count it. It’s an unbelievable feeling.” – The Independent/Agencies