Everton 1-4 Brighton: Fearless Ferguson tops player ratings

It should come as a shock to absolutely nobody that the leading lights in the Everton 1-4 Brighton player ratings were the attacking players who helped the Albion to score four goals in a top flight away game for the first time ever.

Sitting at the top of the tree were Evan Ferguson and Kaoru Mitoma. If you want some idea of the impact Roberto De Zerbi has made as Brighton head coach, then consider this – before his appointment, neither had started a Premier League fixture.

Mitoma now has four goals in his past six appearances. Ferguson became the youngest player to score and assist in the same top flight match since Michael Owen more than 25 years ago.

And it still feels like De Zerbi has only just began to unearth the rich attacking potential in this squad. Talk about exciting.

Alongside finding a way to help the Albion score goals, the other notable aspect of the De Zerbi Era so far has been the switch to 4-2-3-1 and how pivotal the two holding midfield players are.

When they work well in tandem, the Seagulls fly. Moises Caicedo and Pascal Gross certainly did that at Goodison Park, joining Ferguson and Mitoma as the four men to post scores of more than eight in the Everton 1-4 Brighton player ratings.

Which are as follows…

Robert Sanchez – 7.27
Easy to forget given the final score and everything, but Everton actually started the better side. Had Sanchez not got a strong wrist to an early Alex Iwobi shot to produce an excellent reaction save, the game could have turned out very different. That just about makes up for the needless penalty he conceded in injury time to deny the Albion a clean sheet.

Joel Veltman – 7.18
The dependable Dutchman was recalled after Tariq Lamptey proved a little too attack minded in the defeat against Arsenal. A typically solid showing was exactly what was needed as Albion fans are only too aware of the damage Demari Gray can cause if given open space to charge down the flank into.

Lewis Dunk – 7.36
Going up against Dominic Calvert-Lewin and James Tarkowski for headers was a battle not many players will win so there was no shame in him struggling in the air. Foot perfect on the ground, even outshining Levi Colwill in the passing department.

Levi Colwill – 7.18
Not as assured in possession as we have come to expect him to be. No complaints about how good he was defensively alongside Dunk in what is fast becoming an extremely balanced left-foot-right-foot centre back partnership.

Pervis Estupinan – 7.36
A lot has been made of his link up with Kaoru Mitoma down the left but the way Caicedo knows exactly when to sit into the full back position for his compatriot is almost telepathic. We saw that in the build up for the second Brighton goal when Estupinan went on a charge forward to thread a lovely ball through to Jeremy Sarmiento.

Moises Caicedo – 8.27
Stick a couple more million on that price tag as interest from Liverpool, Chelsea and the Saudi Sportswashers intensifies. He set up the opening goal for Mitoma with a brilliant switch of play, covered every blade of grass and never wasted a pass.

Pascal Gross – 8.09
Forget player ratings for a minute, did you ever think you would hear the words “Gross is racing clear” which were uttered when Der Kaiser ran from the halfway line with the ball to dink over Jordan Pickford and make it Everton 1-4 Brighton? A phenomenal performance alongside Caicedo, leaving De Zerbi to ponder both how he fits Alexis Mac Allister back into the starting XI and where he deploys Gross next.

Solly March – 7.91
You wait more than two years for March to score a Premier League goal, and then two screamers come along in eight days. Vitalli Mykolenko was left bamboozled by March on numerous occasions with his curled effort into the top corner the icing on the cake.

Jeremy Sarmiento – 7.18
It was a huge call for De Zerbi to replace Adam Lallana in the number 10 role with Sarmiento, a position that the young Ecuador winger can scarcely of played before in his life. It paid off though with the highlight being Sarmiento tricking his way to the by-line and pulling back a pass which Ferguson converted.

Kaoru Mitoma – 8.55
At current rate, Brighton will do well to hang onto Mitoma into next season. His goal was a thing of beauty, cutting inside from the left and beating two men before firing past the advancing Pickford. Potterball had almost made us forget what it was like to watch players running at opponents; DeZerbiBall demands it, which is why Mitoma is thriving.

EVAN FERGUSON – 8.73
A brilliantly taken goal which had shades of Glenn Murray in the way he checked his run to make the extra yard needed to finish. Strength, power, pace, finishing… whilst everyone needs to keep their feet on the ground as it is still very early days in his career (see Connolly, Aaron) it is bloody hard not to get excited about what he could be.

Alexis Mac Allister – 6.55
The game was won by the time the Albion’s first ever World Cup winner entered the fray. Received a fantastic reception from the travelling support but looked a little rusty. As you would if you had spent the past two weeks on the piss in Argentina.

Julio Enciso – 6.73
Probably the best of the five substitutes. He already looks capable of contributing a lot in build up. Once he develops a bit more composure and starts making better decisions, he will be some player.

Tariq Lamptey – 6.55
Already 4-0 down, Everton were probably hoping Brighton would go easy on them in the final 20 minutes. Instead, De Zerbi threw on Lamptey to add even more attacking intent. Enjoyed a couple of forays forward from right back after replacing Veltman.

Adam Lallana – 6.45
Might have expected a hostile reception thanks to his Liverpool connections but Goodison was half empty by the time he came on to help the Albion see out the final 10 minutes.

Andrew Moran – 6.45
A good night for the Republic of Ireland as not only did Ferguson score on his first start but there was also a Premier League debut for Moran. De Zerbi must be keen on him so it will be interesting to see what role he has to play at Middlesbrough in the FA Cup on Saturday.

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.