Chelsea 1-1 Brighton: Bissouma best on the park in player ratings
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, oh what fun it is to see Brighton draw away. The Albion continued their impressive Christmas form by drawing 1-1 at European Champions Chelsea, resulting in some of the best Brighton player ratings seen so far this season.
Five players put an eight or above on the board. Yves Bissouma meanwhile became only the second man to score over nine in a Premier League fixture this season, following in the footsteps of, er, Yves Bissouma in the 2-0 win over Watford back in August.
Thomas Tuchel might have been desperate to create a narrative involving his Chelsea side being robbed by the referee, VAR, injuries and Covid-19.
These ratings smack in the face of that however, reflecting the fact that the reason the Blues drew was because Brighton were just better than them. The Albion should have won and Tuchel’s grasping for excuses is not fooling anyone.
And so here they are – your player ratings for Chelsea 1-1 Brighton. A famous point from a famous performance on a famous night in West London.
Robert Sanchez – 7.19
Would have expected to be far busier, especially when the teams were announced and Chelsea contained Romelu Lukaku. Forced into a couple of good stops, most notably with his feet from Mason Mount in the first half.
Joel Veltman – 7.90
Returned to the starting XI on the right side of the back three. Showcased his reading of the game with several key blocks and interceptions, one of which prevented a certain goal when he cut out Callum Hudson-Odoi’s attempted pass to Mount at the end of a lightning quick Chelsea break.
Dan Burn – 8.05
Deploying Burn as the central defender in the Albion’s back line against a player as good as Lukaku turned out to be a stroke of genius from Graham Potter. Burn was superb in restricting the £97.5 million signing from having any impact other than scoring the Blues’ opener.
Marc Cucurella – 8.71
What made Cucurella’s performance so outstanding is that it came out-of-position at centre back, a role he cannot have filled many times in his career. He was Webster-like with the way he would happily step out of defence in possession. That ultimately led to him pushing forward to deliver the brilliant cross headed home by Danny Welbeck for the Albion equaliser.
Tariq Lamptey – 7.86
His first return to Stamford Bridge since his £4 million move to Brighton in January 2020. Looked like he wanted to prove a point to his former employers, whose only method of stopping him was to try and kick him off the park. Antonio Rudiger was lucky not to see red for one horror first half tackle and Mateo Kovačić followed his teammate into the book in the second half.
Adam Lallana – 7.62
Kept things ticking over in a midfield role alongside Bissouma. Drew a good save from Edouard Mendy and should have done better when firing over from 12 yards out in the second half.
YVES BISSOUMA – 9.00
As already mentioned, his score in the Chelsea 1-1 Brighton ratings is only the second time an Albion player has achieved a nine this season. Shielded the back four, used the ball well and nearly had a goal with a piledriver from distance which Mendy had to tip over. It was an all-action 90 minutes which showcased every side of his game.
Solly March – 7.38
With Lamptey charging forward up the right, March was more focussed on defensive duties down the left to provide balance the team. His willingness to sit in also allowed Cucurella the freedom to carry the ball into midfield.
Jakub Moder – 7.10
Deployed in a slightly more advanced role than we have seen him so far this season. Covered his usual amount of ground and came close to scoring when putting an effort onto the top of the crossbar.
Alexis Mac Allister – 8.19
Having barely featured in recent weeks, Mac Allister made his second start in the space of 72 hours. Schemed away behind Maupay, linking up well with Moder and Bissouma in one of his best showings of the campaign. Hard to see how he can be dropped after the past two matches.
Neal Maupay – 7.38
Got into a wrestling match he was never going to win with Lukaku, leading to the Chelsea striker having a free header to power the hosts into the lead. His contribution at the other end was impressive however, relentlessly pressing the Chelsea defence. He got into some promising positions, culminating in two decent opportunities.
Enock Mwepu – 7.00
Struggled to get into the game once he was introduced for the final 20 minutes as Chelsea gradually began to work their way into things, no doubt relieved that Lamptey had made way after his tormenting of the home defence.
Danny Welbeck – 8.29
Nobody in hyper turq had been able to find a way past the outstanding Mendy until Welbeck arrived on the scene. His header from Cucurella’s lovely cross was placed perfectly out of reach of the Chelsea goalkeeper, reminding everyone of the finishing ability he brings to the party when fit. A place in the Albion history books is his as a result, becoming the first ever Brighton player to score a league goal away at Chelsea.
Steve Alzate – 6.81
Did not have much time to make an impression but Brighton did score when he was on the pitch, Welbeck’s equaliser coming three minutes after Alzate’s introduction.
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.
