Brighton 0-0 Aston Villa: Rave ratings for Veltman pocketing Grealish
When he is not busy throwing himself to the ground and screeching like a woman in childbirth, Jack Grealish is one of the best footballers in the Premier League. It is little wonder then that Joel Veltman topped the Brighton player ratings after pocketing the Aston Villa captain in the sides’ 0-0 draw at the Amex.
Having been the scourge of the Albion on countless occasions in the past, this time Grealish could make no impact on proceedings. As a result, Brighton were totally dominant and would have won by three or four had they not found Emiliano Martínez in the Villa goal in such sparkling form.
Martinez pulled off nine saves over the 90 minutes, two of which came from Veltman as the Dutchman proved to be as good going forward as he was at nullifying Grealish.
Veltman was not the only Brighton player to excel of course. It takes an impressive team performance to register 26 shots in one match, meaning that we have another set of high scoring player ratings for Brighton 0-0 Aston Villa.
Robert Sanchez – 6.76
Had one save to make all evening and that was a weak effort straight at him from Ross Barkley. The easiest clean sheet he will ever keep thanks to the excellent performance which took place in front of him.
Ben White – 7.18
Played his part in a solid defensive showing. Made one important clearance from a first half cross in a rare Villa attack and used the ball well in an attacking sense.
Lewis Dunk – 7.41
Whilst Veltman took the credit for keeping Grealish quiet, the Brighton captain did an equally important job on Ollie Watkins which went a little bit under the radar. Played a central role in the Albion building from the back.
Dan Burn – 7.41
Big Dan Burn is fast turning into a real WAB favourite for the sheer unpredictability he brings. In the past 10 days he has been unreal at Liverpool, average at Burnley, looked like he had won a cornflake competition to be a footballer for a day at Leicester City, played as if he were a certainty to win the Ballon d’Or against Villa. Charged forward to join the attack on numerous occasions and only a stunning Martinez save denied him his first Brighton goal.
JOEL VELTMAN – 8.82
Frustrated the life out of Grealish in a defensive sense. Going forward, he drew two excellent stops from Martinez and put in several top class deliveries including the one early on which Alexis Mac Allister should have done better with. Right now, it is hard to see how Tariq Lamptey gets his place back. Veltman has been that good.
Yves Bissouma – 7.29
His recycling of possession was impressive and he showed that uncanny ability he has of always picking the right pass. That Barkley was kept so quiet was also down to him.
Pascal Gross – 6.88
The playmakers recent performances have been of such a high standard that this felt like a bit of an off night, hardly a surprise as he has played virtually every minute of the past six matches crammed into 24 days. He put in one beautiful Cruyff Turn Gross Turn and saw a free kick turned away by Martinez.
Steve Alzate – 6.71
Given the nod to start as a wing back ahead of Michal Karbownik. He picked up an early booking after clattering Grealish which left him on a bit of a tightrope. It says much about what a mature player he is that he managed to negotiate the remainder of the game without any further issues.
Alexis Mac Allister – 7.59
You can tell how well he played as two misses like that free header and the free kick he blasted over would normally adversely impact a player’s rating. Not Mac Allister though, whose invention, drive and the ground he covered really stood out.
Leandro Trossard – 8.12
A joy to watch. Villa had no answer to his trickery or his pace and he was at the heart of everything good Brighton did. Against a goalkeeper of lesser quality than Martinez, he is on the scoresheet as the Brighton match winner.
Neal Maupay – 6.18
Could not fault his work rate but his decision making at times was questionable. One moment in the second half stood out on that front when he should have played a simply pass to the unmarked Gross but instead decided to try and trick his way through, leading to him haplessly running the ball out of play for a goal kick.
Adam Lallana – 6.47
Brighton’s dominance seemed to kick up a notch with him on the pitch for the final 30 minutes. With Mac Allister, Trossard, Gross and Lallana, Potter really does have an abundance of creative riches at his disposal.
Danny Welbeck – 6.00
As it became clear that Martinez was an impermeable membrane, Dat Guy Welbz should perhaps have been thrown on earlier to test the Villa goalkeeper. The one chance he did have in his 10 minutes on the pitch was well repelled.
The WAB Player Ratings are formulated using marks out of 10 given by Brighton fans via Twitter. To have your scores included, follow We Are Brighton on Twitter and look out for the player rating thread after each game.
