Brighton 1-1 Crystal Palace: Flying Cucurella tops player ratings
Performance wise, Brighton could not really be faulted for their showing during the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace – something reflected in a high scoring set of player ratings.
Result wise, it was another disappointing outcome against the old enemy. The Albion should have won by a pretty clear margin. Instead, they had to settle for a point, making it six games without a win when facing the Eagles.
Marc Cucurella was the pick of the Albion players, giving yet another barnstorming performance down the left flank. Jakub Moder also scored highly with Tariq Lamptey a livewire off the bench.
Predictably, Pascal Gross scored lowest thanks to that first half penalty more reminiscent of a passback to Jack Butland. Squandering such an opportunity summed up an evening on which the Albion registered an xG of over 2.5.
Here are your full Brighton 1-1 Crystal Palace player ratings.
Robert Sanchez – 6.69
One of his quietest games of the season as Palace barely mustered a shot other than Conor Gallagher’s stunning goal. Nothing he could do about that and he made a decent block when Adam Webster came close to putting through his own net.
Joel Veltman – 6.23
Earned Brighton their penalty when Will Hughes decided to grab him around the neck and throw him to the ground. A sturdy job defensively but given the amount of time and space available down the right flank in the first half, you could not help but wonder how differently things might have turned out if Tariq Lamptey had been fit enough to start.
Adam Webster – 7.23
Should have scored with a header from a Mac Allister corner. Did a sturdy job defensively and meandered out of defence with the ball in trademark style on a couple of occasions.
Dan Burn – 7.46
Continued his excellent run of form with another strong showing, a major reason why Palace offered next to nothing going forward. Looks so much more at home playing as a centre back, almost to the point where you wonder how Lewis Dunk gets back in.
MARC CUCURELLA – 8.00
He is just so good. Strong defensively and got forward at every opportunity. You could see the Eagles looked terrified whenever he was on the ball, earning top spot in the ratings.
Pascal Gross – 5.00
This low score comes from the moment that overshadowed an otherwise solid performance – that penalty. Yes, he should never have been taking it and the blame for that falls on Graham Potter but even so, to produce a spot kick worse than Ryan Harley at Millwall a decade ago takes some doing.
Adam Lallana – 7.08
We all know what a silky player he is on the ball. With Yves Bissouma at AFCON, he was tasked with the holding role which meant attempting to keep Gallagher quiet. He was pretty much successful, showing a side to his game we have not previously seen.
Alexis Mac Allister – 7.46
The incision in his play is something else. Never wasted a pass, including when playing a couple of delicions through balls. Did not get into the shooting positions he had at Everton, but that could be forgiven with the effort he put into scheming chances for others.
Jakub Moder – 7.77
Obtained the second highest score in the Brighton 1-1 Palace ratings. His match winning cameo from the bench in the FA Cup win at West Brom last week has sparked him towards new heights. Unlucky not to score when putting a pinpoint Gross cross against the bar in the second half.
Leandro Trossard – 7.00
Denied early on by a big Jack Butland save when Cucurella played him in one-on-one. Produced a couple of tricky runs and played a lovely raking pass in the build up to the Albion equaliser.
Neal Maupay – 7.38
A constant menace with his work rate and his probing. Thought he had scored when bundling home from a Butland fumble, only for it to be disallowed for a foul on the Palace goalkeeper. Did eventually get his moment, delivering the low cross into the box which Joachim Andersen turned into his own goal.
Tariq Lamptey – 7.62
Had a couple of lively moments. Palace though were aware of the threat he posed and tightened up down his side of the pitch once he was introduced early in the second half.
Danny Welbeck – 6.77
Came close to a late winner when he put a header over the bar. He did superbly to even get the chance towards goal.
Solly March – 6.85
Seems to be carving out a niche for himself as a player to come off the bench, run at tiring defences and make something happen late on. Caused Palace a few problems.
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.
