Ezequiel Schelotto voted WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month for February 2020
It’s amazing what upsetting your arch rivals’ star player can do for your standing, isn’t it? February 2020 may have been a winless month for Brighton, but Ezequiel Schelotto managed to make quite the impression on and off the pitch to win our WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month award.
Schelotto’s best moment of February came in a game in which he didn’t even play. The right back was an unused substitute in the 1-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace and put his position on the sideline to good effect by making Wilfried Zaha lose his mind in the first half.
It all kicked off when Schelotto threw a ball at Zaha, which didn’t sit well with such a moody little man. Zaha confronted Schelotto about the incident and then appeared to spit at him before some handbags ensued.
Schelotto picked up a booking for his troubles but his afternoon’s work wasn’t done there. He further antagonised Zaha by making a crying gesture at him which ended up going viral.
So in Zaha’s head by the end of the game was Schelotto that Palace’s golden child managed to hit the post from three yards out when presented with an open goal. It was one of the only bright spots on an otherwise dark afternoon at the Amex.
Schelotto’s Player of the Month award wasn’t just based on his antics against Palace, however. He’d also contributed on the pitch, starting with his introduction as a 72nd minute substitute in the 3-3 draw against West Ham United.
The Albion were 3-1 down and heading for defeat when Schelotto and Solly March came on, subsequently turning the game around and helping Brighton earn a crucial point.
Schelotto was promoted to the starting line up for the home draw with Watford – only his second start since May 2018 – and kept his place for the trip to Sheffield United, where he gave a fine account of himself in the right wing back slot.
Winning a Player of the Month award completes an extraordinary turnaround for Schelotto. He didn’t play a minute of Premier League football under Chris Hughton last season, joining Serie A club Cheivo on loan in January 2019.
Whilst in Italy, Schelotto suffered an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury which cut short his spell with Chievo, ruling him out for seven months.
His Brighton career looked to be all but over at that point in time, yet his comeback has been such that he could yet find himself getting a new contract when his current deal expires in the summer.
Second place went to Lewis Dunk, who was statistically Brighton’s best performer throughout the month according to the WAB February Power Rankings.
Dunk’s best performance came at Sheffield United where he did an excellent job dealing with the considerable threat of Oliver McBurnie and David McGoldrick.
Gareth Southgate was watching at Bramall Lane that day and although Dunk missed a golden opportunity to score what would have been a winning goal when he blasted a volley over in the second half, the Albion captain must surely be in contention for Southgates’s upcoming England squads.
It was another of Brighton’s home grown talents who finished third as March returned from groin surgery to nail down a regular spot in Graham Potter’s starting line up.
His cameo at West Ham was an exciting one and he followed that up with a man-of-the-match performance against Watford.
March was arguably Brighton’s best player against Palace too, although many Albion fans will struggle to forgive him for that glaring first half miss from Leandro Trossard’s cross.
Had that gone in, then it might have been a very different afternoon. Still, that shouldn’t take away from March’s significant contribution over the course of February.
Ezequiel Schelotto – 59.66%
Lewis Dunk – 21.01%
Solly March – 10.92%
Glenn Murray – 3.78%
Maty Ryan – 3.36%
Neal Maupay – 1.26%
