Kiko Seike scores hat-trick and Fran Kirby off the mark as Brighton beat Everton

Summer signing Kiko Seike stole the show with a hat-trick as Brighton thrashed Everton 4-0 in their Women’s Super League opener.

There was also a debut goal for England international Fran Kirby as the Seagulls began life under new boss Dario Vidosic with an emphatic victory at the Broadfield Stadium in Crawley on Saturday.

Japan forward Seike opened the scoring in the first half and then added a second before the hour and completed her treble after Kirby had made it 3-0 from the penalty spot.

It was a miserable afternoon for Everton, whose troubles in front of goal continued after they scored just 24 times in 22 WSL outings last season.

Seike proved a handful throughout, first creating a chance for Guro Bergsvand early on and then almost setting up Pauline Bremer.

Everton had an early opportunity after Aurora Galli robbed Vicky Losada but Sophie Baggaley dealt with her shot.

Seike’s first effort on goal saw her draw a save from Courtney Brosnan but the keeper could do little to keep out her long-range lob to open the scoring on 29 minutes.

Baggaley produced a good save to deny Inma Gabarro an equaliser after the break and Everton were caught out again on 56 minutes as Poppy Pattinson’s cross was headed in by Seike at the back post.

Brighton further tightened their grip on 68 minutes after a Maria Thorisdottir shot struck the arm of Sara Holmgaard and Kirby made no mistake from the resulting penalty.

Seike then completed the rout with a superb finish into the top corner 15 minutes from time.

Everton’s woes were compounded when Galli was forced off with an injury in the closing stages and Brighton almost added a fifth when Jorelyn Carabali had a shot cleared off the line.