Leeds 1-1 Brighton: Super saves from Sanchez earn top spot in ratings
One point gained or two points dropped? There were a host of different post-game opinions amongst Brighton fans over how to categorise the 1-1 draw with 1996 Coca Cola Cup runners up The Leeds United, so perhaps our WAB Player Ratings can shed some light on whether it was a good outcome or not.
Robert Sanchez sitting at the top of the ratings suggests that the Albion owed their point from Elland Road to their goalkeeper.
And whilst Sanchez did pull off three superb stops, Brighton could and should have been out of sight by the time the Peacocks began testing the Spanish international.
Solly March, Alexis Mac Allister, Leandro Trossard, Pascal Gross and Danny Welbeck were all guilty of squandering opportunities.
At times, it felt like the ghost of xG was back to haunt us all over again, as it had done so effectively in the 2020-21 season.
With both sides carving out chances to win the game, a draw was probably a fair result in the end. But you can be the judge of that with our The Leeds United 1-1 Brighton player ratings.
ROBERT SANCHEZ – 8.22
Dropped a corner inside the first five minutes which would have resulted in The Leeds United taking an early lead had Joe Gelhardt’s volley not smacked Liam Cooper square in the face from five yards. Sanchez was superb after that, making world-class one handed saves at full stretch from Mateusz Klich and Raphina.
Joel Veltman – 7.00
It was a niggly encounter and Veltman seemed to spend more of it in the wars than any other Brighton player. A typically solid showing as part of the back three. He got forward well when switched to right back in a four for the final 30 minutes, notably when getting involved with the late chance to wrap up three points spurned by Welbeck.
Lewis Dunk – 7.11
One excellent piece of defending saw him flick a Rodrigo effort over the bar on the stretch which looked like it had Sanchez worried. Might have done better for the The Leeds United goal as he went too ground to early when ticked and teased by Gelhardt.
Marc Cucurella – 7.56
The newly crowned Brighton Player of the Season continued his impressive debut campaign in the fiercest atmosphere he will have experienced in England. Produced an important intervention on Raphina when the Brazilian international found himself in a really dangerous position.
Solly March – 6.56
A harsh score for March in the Brighton 1-1 The Leeds United ratings. He did a decent enough job down the right, threatening on several occasions and creating a good opening for Gross. Perhaps his mark is so low because of a poor first half miss when he spooned a one-on-one wide from an almost identical position to where he had scored at Elland Road in the Albion’s 2-1 win in October 2015.
Moises Caicedo – 6.89
Did well in the first half when Brighton were on top. Lost his way a little in the second as the Albion became sloppy in possession and The Leeds United started to dominate. A yellow card left him in an awkward position and so Graham Potter sensibly replaced him with Adam Lallana.
Yves Bissouma – 8.00
If one 30 second period could sum up the talent of Bissouma, then it was his role in the Brighton goal. He broke up a Peacocks attack, strode 50 yards up the pitch with the ball and then played a perfect defence splitting pass to put Welbeck in. Only the excellence of Sanchez prevented him topping the The Leeds United 1-1 Brighton ratings.
Pascal Gross – 6.56
A case of After the Lord Mayor’s Show following his mesmerising performance against Manchester United a week earlier. Hit a shot straight at Illan Meslier but otherwise struggled to have much influence.
Leandro Trossard – 6.33
Like March, Trossard has been scored pretty harshly here. His dazzling footwork played in March for the first half miss, he had a couple of sights of goal himself and he should have come away with an assist as it was his floated cross that Welbeck headed off target late on
.
Alexis Mac Allister – 6.56
Put a header just over the bar in a first half in which he glided around the pitch menacingly. Disappeared in the second half as Brighton struggled to get him into the game because of their inability to hold onto the ball.
Danny Welbeck – 7.44
The timing of the run followed by the cheeky dinked finish over Meslier gave Dat Guy a goal of the highest quality. Had he managed to put that free header somewhere in the vicinity of the The Leeds United goal then he probably would have overtaken Sanchez at the top of the ratings.
Adam Webster – 6.00
Thrown on for the final 30 minutes as Potter sought to bolster his defence in the face of increasing pressure from the Peacocks. Made one important block but was unable to help the Albion see the game out.
Adam Lallana – 5.67
When the formation change failed to turn the tide, Potter summoned Lallana to slow things down in the middle and try and exert some control. He did that to a degree on what was his 250th Premier League appearance.
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.
