James Tarkowski is very proud of his team's excellent defensive performance

James Tarkowski was very proud of his team's defensive performance as Everton beat Brighton 1-0. James Tarkowski said the players showed a real team performance to help the team keep a clean sheet and win their second consecutive game.  

Elimane N'Dia's penalty in the first half made the difference, but the team had to work hard to win. From the 80th to the 100th minute, Everton played with only 10 men.  

After the game, James Tarkowski said: "We scored a goal and our defense played well. I have watched Brighton play against many teams and I think the fact that they beat Manchester City here shows how strong they are."  

"Despite this, we were very resilient. We played with 10 men for about 15 minutes. From the front to the back, every player played their part. It was a difficult period. Even if there were only 10 players left in the end, we had to hold on."  

"I feel great, but we're not going to get carried away with it because there's still a lot of games to come. It feels good to get back-to-back wins in one week, so I'm really proud of the team there and now let's keep going and build on that."  

On Eliman N'Dia's decisive penalty, James Tarkowski said: "I was nervous, I've never seen it, so I didn't know which direction he kicked it. But that's what I expect from him, I don't care how they play, we don't score a lot of goals. We scored some goals last week, so it's fair to him to score it whichever way it's scored."  

"I'll try to win no matter what it takes, like I said, two wins in a row. I'm very proud and happy with how we played today. I'll look forward to it again because winning three games in a row would be even better, and we'll focus on the next game and be fully prepared."