Vote for your December 2021 WAB Brighton Player of the Month

December 2021 will forever be remembered as the month when Brighton became specialists in late equalisers – but will it that be enough to see the man responsible for most of those moments lift our WAB Player of the Month crown?

Coming into December, Neal Maupay had been a much-maligned figure. Graham Potter had dropped him in November despite the fact that he was the Albion’s top scorer and some supporters seemed to delight in both this and the easy chances he has become notorious for missing.

The final month of 2021 was a different story though. Last minute equalisers from Maupay at West Ham and Southampton rescued Brighton a couple of 1-1 draws and Le Petit Shithouse Français also scored in the the month’s only win over his former club Brentford.

There was further late drama in the 1-1 draw at Chelsea which rounded off December 2021, where Danny Welbeck became the first ever Brighton player to score a league goal away against the Blues. Unfortunately, Dat Guy made it onto the pitch for less than 20 months so he fails to make the Player of the Month shortlist.

Maupay was not the only Brighton player to return to form in December. Robert Sanchez made some vital interventions to help the Albion on their way to six welcome points, none more so than when preserving a clean sheet in the 2-0 victory at home to Brentford.

Aside from Welbeck and Maupay, Leandro Trossard was the only other player to score for the Albion from December’s five fixtures when notching the opener against the Bees.

With Lewis Dunk, Shane Duffy, Adam Webster and Joel Veltman all absent at various points for different reasons, Dan Burn had his best run of performances in an Albion shirt since August 2019 when he last won a WAB Player of the Month award.

Tariq Lamptey continued the outstanding form that had seen him take the November vote and is subsequently being linked with a move to Arsenal. Marc Cucurella down the other flank meanwhile has had Paul Merson tell Chelsea that they should break the bank for his signature.

For a month which included the final throes of an 11 game top flight winless run, record low Amex Premier League crowds at the Wolves and Brentford matches and a very public disagreement between fans and board over the controversial season ticket sharing scheme, December was not as terrible as it perhaps could have been.

Which player lit it up the most? Time to cast your votes.

The candidates for WeAreBrighton.com December 2021 Brighton Player of the Month

Dan Burn
Involved in four out of five of the Albion’s December fixtures and hardly put a foot wrong. His most commanding performance of the month – and quite possibly his best ever in an Albion shirt – saw him mark £97 million striker Romelu Lukaku out of the game at Stamford Bridge. In fact, Burn did such a good job that a couple of days later Lukaku gave that bombshell interview saying he wanted to return to Italy. He was well and truly Burned.

Marc Cucurella
Ever since his debut away at Brentford in September, we knew Cucurella was good. In December, he took things up another notch. Swashbuckling going forward and defensively sound, he even demonstrated previously unseen versatility by playing as a central defender in a back three at Chelsea… and he still managed to claim an assist at Stamford Bridge with a perfect cross onto the head of Welbeck.

Tariq Lamptey
The winner of our November Player of the Month vote has it all to do if he is to retain the crown in December. His introduction from the bench at West Ham helped Brighton fight back to claim a point. So dangerous was he on his return to Chelsea that the European Champions decided the only way to stop him was by kicking him off the park. Antonio Rudiger was a lucky, lucky boy not to see red – and he is supposed to be one of the best defenders in the world right now.

Neal Maupay
Oh Neal! The bicycle kick in the 89th minute against West Ham was magnificent. The awareness to steal a couple of yards as James Ward-Prowse dropped to cover the Southampton post left Maupay in the perfect place at the perfect time to level with the final kick at St Mary’s. He also scored a superb strike in the Boxing Day win over Brentford. Simply a fabulous December for the Albion’s top scorer.

Robert Sanchez
Two outstanding saves at West Ham paved the way for Maupay’s moment of magic to mean something. The Spanish goalkeeper was also at his best when making a couple more brilliant stops in the space of five minutes when Brentford visited the Amex, without which the result against the Bees could have been very different.

Leandro Trossard
Opened the scoring against Brentford in spectacular style with a first time lobbed volley after timing his run to perfection and latching onto Enock Mwepu’s long ball over the top. A couple of injuries either side of the Bees game could not prevent him making the shortlist.

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Poll closes at 8pm on Sunday 9th January