Julio Enciso voted WAB May 2023 Brighton Player of the Month

June 5, 2023June 5, 2023 WeAreBrighton.com 0 Comments

Julio Enciso scored the Premier League Goal of the Season in May 2023 but he will no doubt have been even more excited about picking up his first WAB Brighton Player of the Month award.

On paper, this looked like one of the most difficult votes of the campaign to call. Seven matches yielded three wins, one draw and three defeats, culminating in the Albion qualifying for Europa League football.

Roberto De Zerbi heavily rotated his squad to cope with the intense schedule of two games per week and that meant there were numerous individuals with strong claims.

For Julio Enciso to therefore be crowned May 2023 Player of the Month amid such intense competition from his Brighton teammates is testament to just how good he was.

We probably should start with that award winning strike against Manchester City. From 30 yards out, Enciso stuck the ball right into the very top corner of Stefan Ortega’s goal with power, precision, dip and swerve.

The reaction of the City fans in the South Stand said it all. There were hands on heads, mouths wide open in shock and one bloke even started applauding before the ball had hit the back of the net.

His stunner against the champions was by no means Enciso’s only contribution of May. He also opened the scoring in the 3-0 win at Arsenal with a very different type of goal, getting into a dangerous position and reacting quickest to head past Aaron Ramsdale from a scruffy Pervis Estupinan cross.

A livewire performance in defeat at Aston Villa on the final day rounded off an excellent month for the Paraguayan teenager.

If he continues his current rate of progress, he will be one of the most exciting players in the Premier League this time next year.

Having won the vote for Brighton Player of the Month in April 2023, Pascal Gross has to settle for runners up spot this time around.

With Gross having done more than almost any other player to first help Brighton stay in the top flight, then establish themselves before finally breaking into the top six, it was apt he scored the goal to confirm European football.

That came in the 3-1 win over Southampton via a powerful drive from outside the box. It was the 10th goal of the campaign for Gross, meaning 2022-23 became his most prolific in an Albion shirt.

Assists in May against Arsenal and Villa moved him onto 10 in that category, equalling his best haul from 2020-21. 20 goal involvements is phenomenal for a player who has spent most of the season playing as a defensive midfielder or right back.

Third place behind Enciso and Gross belonged to Estupinan, whose supreme fitness allowed him to play more minutes than any other outfield player through May.

Tiredness and fatigue never looked an issue for Estupinan as he continued to deliver swashbuckling performance at left back followed by swashbuckling performance.

His best 90 minutes came at the Emirates. Not only did he assist Enciso, but he also scored his first Brighton goal to wrap up the victory.

A typically lung bursting charge forward – in injury time, no less – enabled him to be the first Albion player on the scene to lash home the rebound when Ramsdale parried a Deniz Undav shot.

Defensively, Estupinan managed to keep Bukayo Saka reasonably quiet. He went onto have a particularly excellent evening against City as part of a backline which prevented both Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland from getting on the scoresheet.