Brighton 4-1 Chelsea: Big player ratings from Potter hammering
Needless to say, Brighton 4-1 Chelsea and the utter humiliation heaped on Graham Potter on his first return to the Amex has resulted in some very high player ratings.
Pervis Estupinan led the way, something that was particularly enjoyable seeing as he was signed in the summer as a replacement for Marc Cucurella – the first piece of asset stripping of the Albion carried out by Chelsea which paved the way for Potter, Billy Reid, Bjorn Hamberg, Bruno, Ben Roberts, Kyle Macauley and now it looks like Paul Winstanley to follow to Stamford Bridge.
Equally enjoyable as seeing Estupinan shine was Cucurella enduring nearly as horrible an afternoon back in Sussex as Potter.
He was given a torrid time by Solly March – enough to see March into second spot in the ratings and Cucurella withdrawn in the second half with Chelsea trailing 3-1.
Leandro Trossard was the third Seagull to score higher than nine. It seems impossible that Potter will not try and buy the Vampire of Genk in either January or the summer.
Brighton need to break the bank to try and tempt Trossard to stay, which admittedly will not be easy even if he were to be made the club’s highest earner.
The lure of European football and the chance of winning trophies at Chelsea might prove too much. Although it is hard to see the Blues winning silverware under Potter based on what we saw at the Amex.
Chelsea were terrible. But that should not take away from how magnificent the Albion were – as proven by this impressive set of Brighton 4-1 Chelsea player ratings.
Robert Sanchez – 8.92
Pretty unusual for a goalkeeper to be one of the best players in a 4-1 win for his side. Sanchez though was outstanding, making a series of excellent saves and dominating his box superbly. The full stretch tip over from Conor Gallagher in the first half and the reaction stop when Pascal Gross nearly put through his own goal after the break were top class.
Pascal Gross – 8.62
Potter tried to use Gross as a full back on several occasions but could never make it work. Actually, it was always an unmitigated disaster. How ironic then that Roberto De Zerbi tried it against Potter for the first time and Gross looked like he had been playing there all his life. Pushed forward when Tariq Lamptey entered proceedings and claimed the fourth goal with a neat finish from a rebound.
Lewis Dunk – 8.88
The boyhood Chelsea fan became the first Brighton captain to ever lead the Albion to victory over the Blues. Kept Kai Havertz largely quiet in another solid showing – so solid in fact that Tony Cascarino was on Talksport over the weekend championing Dunk for Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad.
Adam Webster – 7.77
Lost Havertz for the Chelsea goal and gave the ball away a couple of times. This though was much improved on recent efforts, even if he did receive the lowest score in the Brighton 4-1 Chelsea player ratings.
PERVIS ESTUPINAN – 9.15
De Zerbi started with a flat back four, not that you could tell from the energy that Estupinan displayed to get up and down the pitch from left back. He was everywhere, culminating in delivering the low cross which Trevor Chalobah turned into his own net to put the Albion 3-0 ahead just before half time.
Moises Caicedo – 8.73
Came close to scoring when he rattled the post. Linked up really well with Estupinan at times, notably when his clipped ball forward set his compatriot scuttling away towards the by-line for the third goal.
Alexis Mac Allister – 8.50
Celebrated his new Brighton contract with a disciplined display alongside Caicedo in the holding midfield positions. Did not get on the ball as much as he would have liked, but that was offset by the superb defensive work he did in never allowing Chelsea to settle and play.
Solly March – 9.08
Cucurella had no way of stopping March. There were shades of watching Will Buckley torment Dan Harding whenever the former Albion left back returned to the Amex with another club a decade ago. The only thing missing from March’s game was – once again – a goal.
Adam Lallana – 8.23
His experience and resourcefulness was well deployed by De Zerbi in the number 10 role. Did not make things happen himself, but the way he keeps possession and always finds a blue and white shirt helped keep the Albion on the front foot.
Kaoru Mitoma – 8.58
An impressive full Premier League debut. Showed great control, skill and intelligence to tee up Trossard for the opener and then put pressure on Chalobah to help force the own goal. Faded a bit in the second half but he certainly looks an exciting addition.
Leandro Trossard – 9.08
Moved onto 25 top flight goals for the Albion, behind only Michael Robinson, Glenn Murray and Neal Maupay in the all-time standings. Great composure to score and had another effort headed off the line in spectacular style by Thiago Silva. Chelsea could not stop him, so their undoubted solution will be to try and buy him once the World Cup is out of the way.
Julio Enciso – 8.00
Showed strength, directness, a willingness to shoot and some silky skills in his first league minutes as a Brighton player. An intriguing cameo, although his decision making clearly needs working on – he could have put Trossard clean through with a simple sideways pass but opted instead to try and go alone. That will come with time.
Tariq Lamptey – 7.62
De Zerbi introduced more pace late on as Brighton tried to finish on the front foot. Lamptey played his part in that.
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.
