Charalampos Kostoulas pulled off an audacious overhead kick to level Brighton’s clash with Bournemouth in dramatic fashion, with the contest all square on Monday night at 1-1.
The Greek international conjured the equaliser from a moment of magic, waiting in the box for a high chipped pass from Jan Paul van Hecke.
Rather than trying to make space for himself to get the shot away, Kostoulas controlled the ball off his chest, before swinging himself into an acrobatic kick which outsmarted goalkeeper Djorde Petrovic.
‘For you, it was the first time that you see it,’ Kostoulas said after the final whistle. ‘Lewis (Dunk, his co-interviewee) has seen it a lot of times in training.
‘I really like this way to score, or try to score. Today the ball went into the net. I am happy for this goal. But the result could be better for us. We need these three points to keep pushing until the end of the season.’
‘I’ve seen some’ Dunk added when asked how often Kostoulas practiced the move. ‘It’s better in training.
Charalampos Kostoulas pulled off an outrageous overhead kick to help Brighton secure a point
The Greek international claimed after the final whistle that he regularly practices the move
‘But that was unbelievable. He’s a special talent, and I think you’ve seen glimpses, but there’s a lot more to come’.
Bournemouth were denied their second consecutive win at the last, missing out on the opportunity to draw level on points with the Seagulls.
‘We were defending very well and it was an incredible goal,’ Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraiola. It was difficult to blame anyone, Football is being a little harsh with us. It was a difficult one to take.’
Empty seats in the away end betrayed the fact that this fixture is hardly a South Coast ‘derby’, whatever broadcasters might think, with almost 100 miles between the two clubs’ grounds and seven Premier League clubs closer to the Amex than the Vitality Stadium. But the fans who made the arduous journey will feel the sting of defeat at the last no less keenly.
Iraola selected Amine Adli on the left for the first league game since Antoine Semenyo was sold to Manchester City. Adli had filled the role in the 3-3 FA Cup draw away to Newcastle and the boss turned out to be justified in believing he deserved first stab at filling some pretty big boots. Ryan Christie, restricted to one game in the past nine by a knee injury, was on the Cherries’ bench.
Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma began his 100th Premier League game, making him the third Japanese player to reach that milestone after Maya Yoshida (154) and Shinji Okazaki (114).
Although neither team had exactly been in a rich vein of form until recently, Bournemouth’s victory over Spurs in their previous league game and Brighton’s FA Cup triumph at Old Trafford nine days ago and their unbeaten start to 2026 meant that both had reasons for optimism ahead of last night’s encounter.
Brighton began with a bewildering passage of interpassing that denied Bournemouth possession for most of the opening ten minutes and could have seen them take the lead but for Djordje Petrovic’s diving save from Brajan Gruda’s 20-yarder.
But when the visitors finally got the ball, they made openings. Bart Verbruggen had to save from Evanilson and dangerous crosses came in from both wings by courtesy of Marcus Tavernier and Adrien Truffert.
Suddenly Brighton’s early confidence evaporated and they could not do a thing right. Somehow they left themselves with no cover following a corner and Tavernier charged through the empty space to set up Adli. The Moroccan fell under challenge from Verbruggen and at first referee Paul Tierney booked him for simulation. But after consulting his monitor he awarded a penalty that Tavernier smacked home.
‘For me it’s not a penalty but we have to accept that people make mistakes,’ Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler said. ‘It’s difficult to speak to them after the game. In the end they stick to their decision and we have to accept it. We were told that contact in the box doesn’t always mean a penalty. But our performance wasn’t good enough and we have to take responsibility and not talk about the referee.’
Jack Hinshelwood had a header well saved by Petrovic as Brighton tried to recover their early dominance but they were wide open again at the back as Evanilson went through and hit a post with only Verbruggen to beat, then headed wide with defenders nowhere.
Brighton were lucky still to be in the game at half time. Mitoma curled a shot a foot wide as they looked to make the most of that good fortune, but the visitors were not about to cave in to fairly basic pressure. Eventually Brighton boss Hurzeler made a triple substitution, throwing on the pacy Yankuba Minteh and the combative Carlos Baleba along with record signing Georginio Rutter – and by shaking things up with Kostoulas as the penultimate substitute, unlocked the latest of opportunities.
