Asingle day into 2018 and already we can all but dish out the award for scrappiest goal of the year.Congratulations to Bournemouth.Not that Eddie Howe will care how they go in.They were heading for a 2-1 defeat by Brighton when this almighty goalmouth scramble occurred and saved their skin at the AMEX Stadium.Jordan Ibe’s corner clattered into a collection of defenders as a series of shots made Brighton’s box look like a pinball machine.Finally, a slight mis-kick by Callum Wilson caught them all by surprise as the ball trickled over the line, seemingly in slow motion.Job done.This was certainly an absorbing first fixture of the New Year.Brighton had 15 shots overall while Bournemouth had 27.It finished 2-2 but could have been double that.Brighton took the lead through Anthony Knockaert then saw it wiped out by their former academy graduate Steve Cook.Glenn Murray gave them the lead again before Wilson’s scruffy strike.It denied Chris Hughton an anniversary win with the manager celebrating three years in charge of the Seagulls.Appointed on December 31, 2014, when the club were sitting 21st in the Championship, he has taken them to mid-table in the Premier League.Exactly 10 years ago, Alex Revell scored a hat-trick for Brighton in a 3-2 League One win over Bournemouth in front of only 5,000 fans at the Withdean Stadium.It has been a decade of progress for both of these teams.Brighton had only scored a single goal in their last six games but wasted no time at the Amex.Pascal Gross played the ball behind for Jose Izquierdo, who crossed for Knockaert.With Asmir Begovic out of the picture, Knockaert steered his shot on target from the tightest of angles.It was timed at four minutes and 32 seconds – the club’s fastest in the Premier League.Knockaert had his second goal of the season and Brighton had their New Year’s Day fireworks.Brighton could have taken a 2-0 lead when Gross’ perfectly-weighted pass into Murray allowed the striker to stretch his legs.He fired a shot towards the far corner but Begovic got his fingertips to it.The visitors were the ones asking the questions ahead of half-time and it led to the leveller.First, Ibe turned his marker and sprinted into space before firing a shot from distance that forced Mathew Ryan into a diving save.A header by Cook was then cleared by Markus Suttner when Ryan may not have had it covered behind him, And from the resulting corner, Bournemouth scored.Ibe crossed and Cook attacked, sending a looping header home off the underside of the crossbar.While Brighton were kicking themselves for not having a player on the back post, Cook refused to celebrate, having started his football career with the Seagulls a decade ago.It was end to end in the final minutes of the first half.Brighton were wondering how it was not 2-1 when a through-ball by Gross gave Izquierdo a tap-in.The goal was gaping in every sense of the words, but Begovic somehow got a leg to it.There was still time for Bournemouth to get a goal before th