Kostoulas STUNNER rescues a point for Brighton against Bournemouth

Charalampos Kostoulas scored a spectacular overhead kick in second-half stoppage time to salvage a point for Brighton & Hove Albion in a 1-1 draw with AFC Bournemouth.

The Cherries had looked set to leave the Amex Stadium with three points, having defended resolutely after Marcus Tavernier scored a 32nd-minute penalty.

Tavernier slotted into the bottom-left corner from the spot after Amine Adli went down under Bart Verbruggen's challenge, with referee Paul Tierney reversing his initial decision to book the Bournemouth man for simulation following a VAR review, and awarding a penalty instead.

Brighton bossed possession throughout the second half without truly testing Djordje Petrovic, until 18-year-old substitute Kostoulas gave the goalkeeper no chance with his stunning acrobatic effort.

Watch: All angles of Kostoulas' stunning equaliser

The draw ensures the teams are still separated by just three points and three places in the Premier League, with Brighton 12th and Bournemouth 15th.

How the match unfolded 

Brighton made an energetic start as Jack Hinshelwood's drive deflected narrowly wide before Brajan Gruda saw a 20-yard piledriver pushed to safety by Petrovic.

But Bournemouth soon got on top and, just before the half-hour mark, Adli nudged Tavernier's centre past Verbruggen and went down. The winger saw yellow at first, but that decision was overturned upon review, and Tavernier coolly converted from 12 yards.

Petrovic then blocked Hinshelwood's header, but Bournemouth continued to threaten through Evanilson, who clipped the left post – potentially from an offside position – and sent a downward header wide.

Kaoru Mitoma, making his 100th Premier League appearance for the Seagulls, curled wide at the start of the second half, while Verbruggen had to parry James Hill's dangerous long throw from beneath his crossbar at the other end, with several Bournemouth players lurking.

It looked like Brighton would finish empty-handed when Jan Paul van Hecke skewed an awkward volley wide, but when the defender's knock-down fell to Kostoulas in the first of 10 additional minutes, he took a touch on his chest before finding the net in excellent fashion.

Super-sub Kostoulas rescues Seagulls

Following a winless December, Brighton had quietly bolstered their European hopes with an unbeaten start to 2026, and an FA Cup victory at Manchester United last time out continued their positive momentum.

Brighton started with intent, with Ferdi Kadioglu flying forward to add an extra body in attack. Gruda was also heavily involved, showing some good touches around the edge of the area as the Seagulls pushed Bournemouth back.

But after 15 positive minutes, Brighton spent the rest of the first half chasing back towards their own goal as Bournemouth played through them with speed and precision, and Verbruggen was just a fraction too slow off his line when he conceded the penalty.

The longer the second half went on without Brighton creating a clear-cut chance, the more the alarm bells started to sound. Bournemouth dropped ever deeper as time ticked away, and a wall of red and black shirts met every home attack.

It looked as though something special would be required for Brighton to rescue a result, and Kostoulas obliged.

Brighton's strength in depth has stood them in good stead this season, with their nine goals via substitutes the most of any team in the Premier League.

Fabian Hurzeler might hope they do not leave it quite so late when they visit Fulham on Saturday, though.

Adli impresses in Semenyo's place

Bournemouth's previous Premier League outing was bittersweet as Antoine Semenyo's stoppage-time strike sealed a 3-2 victory over Tottenham Hotspur, before the winger joined Manchester City less than 48 hours later.

The Cherries are yet to sign a replacement despite Andoni Iraola stressing a need to dip into the transfer market, and with David Brooks suffering from an ankle injury, his wide options were depleted for this game.

Adli was called upon to make only his fourth Premier League start, and he made a sizeable impact.

If not for a vital intervention from Van Hecke, he would have had a tap-in from Tavernier's fizzing delivery 16 minutes in.

The next time the former Bayer Leverkusen man was involved, he beat Verbruggen to Tavernier's inviting ball across the area, and, following a review at the pitch-side monitor, the Brighton goalkeeper was deemed to have made contact with Adli's right foot.

However, the influence of Adli, Tavernier and Junior Kroupi faded in the second half, and when the attacking trio tired, Iraola replaced them with Bafode Diakite, Adam Smith and Ryan Christie – two defenders and a central midfielder.

Whereas Hurzeler was able to change the game via the introduction of Kostoulas, Iraola might feel a lack of forward options on the bench hamstrung him.

He will hope for some movement on the transfer front before Bournemouth host Liverpool on Saturday.

Club reports

Brighton report | Bournemouth report

What the managers said

Fabian Hurzeler: "In the second half we had big opportunities. We wanted to win this game, in the end we have to accept the point, but I think we definitely deserved to win this game.

"We wasted 20 minutes in the first half after the goal and we could use them much more effectively. In the second half we were better in positioning and then I think that we had the game under control and we could score more than one goal."

Andoni Iraola: "It is very harsh, very harsh for us because we were so close to getting the three points. We played a really good first half and had our chances, we scored one and we were controlling the game.

"In the second half we didn't have the energy to keep these intensity levels and we had to defend a little bit lower, especially after the Brighton subs, but we were doing well. At the end it is an incredible goal from Kostoulas."

PL form and fixtures

Key facts

Brighton have won just two of their 17 Premier League games played on a Monday, drawing 11 and losing four, winning just one of these games on home soil (P12 D7 L4).

Kostoulas' equaliser is the ninth goal Brighton have had scored by a substitute in the Premier League this season, more than any other side.

Bournemouth have conceded 12 goals in the last 15 minutes of the second half, more than any other side in the Premier League this season.

Brighton's Mitoma is just the third Japanese player to hit the 100-game milestone in the Premier League, along with Maya Yoshida (154) and Shinji Okazaki (114).