Just when it seemed another match would be dominated by the dreariness of a debatable video assistant referee decision, a moment of majesty from Charalampos Kostoulas provided a pertinent reminder of the beauty that football can provide.
With his side staring at what would have been a controversial defeat, the Greek substitute found himself facing away from the Bournemouth goal in the first minute of injury time. A touch of his chest bounced the ball upwards, before the 18-year-old produced a wonderful bicycle kick to send the Amex Stadium wild.
It meant spoils were shared and ensured the game was not decided by a first-half penalty that the referee had not initially given, instead punishing Amine Adli for a dive, only to change his mind and point to the spot when identifying on the pitchside monitor that Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen had touched the Moroccan as he tumbled to the ground. How much contact is too much contact? Does anyone even know any more?
Marcus Tavernier duly converted from the spot and, for so long, it looked likely to be the game’s only goal. But Kostoulas’s late acrobatics denied Bournemouth a first away win since August.
A beneficiary of “Dr Tottenham” when ending an 11-game winless run in their last Premier League outing, there remains a sizeable task for Andoni Iraola to tackle at Bournemouth over the remainder of this season. Prior to Antoine Semenyo’s recent departure, the Bournemouth manager made it clear that a player of the Ghanaian’s ability is irreplaceable. As true as that may be, Iraola had already been forced to weather the loss of more than £200m worth of talent in the summer, so valuable departures are hardly a novel concern for him.
