BRIGHTON'S MANAGER Roberto De Zerbi has praised Ireland's Evan Ferguson after the Bettystown native scored his second Premier League goal for the Brighton & Hove Albion against Everton on Tuesday night.
The 18-year-old scored against Arsenal last weekend coming off the bench and followed his first goal up with another goal against relegation threatened Everton on his full Premier League debut yesterday.
Ferguson managed to score Brighton's second goal after good work from Jeremy Sarmiento down the flanks. Ferguson also got an assist for Solly March's goal on the night
The 18-year-old had already made four first team appearances by the age of 17, but this was limited to cup minutes.
Start 2023 right by watching Evan Ferguson's first Premier League goal 😃#COYBIGpic.twitter.com/Udpv6AR28b
— Kenny's Kids (@KennysKids) January 1, 2023
He also made his senior Ireland debut back in November in a friendly against Norway and has been tipped to make a big impact in Ireland's Euro 2024 qualifying campaign next year.
Speaking via the club website, De Zerbi praised the Irish talent and claimed that Ferguson had the ability to be a 'great striker'
"I'm happy for Evan, he played a fantastic game," he told the club website.
"He has big potential and I think he can help us in the second part of the season. With Danny Welbeck, he can be very important as our striker. Evan could become a great striker because he has all the qualities, both physical and technical.
Pascal Gross, one of Brighton's elder statesmen has also backed up his managers comments
"They’re doing really well in training every day,” Gross said. “They’re great young players. In your first Premier League games, maybe the nerves can affect you, but Evan played a great game. He’s fighting, he’s playing good football and he fits right into the team.
It's been a whirlwind number of years for the Irish forward.
Ferguson made his debut in senior football on 11 July 2019 in a 1–1 draw with Chelsea in a friendly at Dalymount Park, aged just 14.
Since then, he's signed for Brighton, made his debut, scored not one but two goals and made his senior debut for Ireland at the age of 18.
Ferguson's goal yesterday meant that he became the first teenager to score back-to-back Premier League goals since Federico Macheda of Manchester United in 2009.
Commenting on the goal and his manager's instructions after the game.
“We came in at half-time knowing we could do even better. We tried to give it our best and luckily the goals came and it was brilliant to get on the scoresheet again. Four goals away from home at Everton is good work by us,"he added,
“It’s the manager’s decision to play me, but I feel comfortable at this level. The other lads push me every day in training, we keep working hard on how we want to play.”
Brighton play Liverpool in the Premier League on the 14th of January in the next game.
The FA Cup will take place this weekend before that. Brighton take on Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Evan Ferguson’s interview after scoring vs Everton tonight☘️
A real humble lad!🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/xTt4geNQ5U— Rep of Ireland Player Tracker (@reptracker) January 3, 2023
