Brighton 0-0 Man United: Dunk delivers top ratings on grand stage
Brighton may have exited the FA Cup at the semi final stage of the competition on penalties following a 0-0 draw with Man United, but the player ratings reflect the fact the Albion did themselves proud at Wembeley.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side were arguably the better team and may well have won in normal time had David De Gea not been in such inspired form.
To keep a clean sheet against United is no mean feat. As a result, Robert Sanchez, his back four, Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo in the all-important holding roles came away with the best scores.
Lewis Dunk in particular was phenomenal in a real captain’s showing. His performance at the home of English football made a mockery that he has appeared just once for his country.
Jamie Carragher tweeted afterwards that Dunk and Manchester City’s John Stone are the two best homegrown centre backs in the Premier League right now. Nobody can argue against that, although a certain Gareth Southgate will undoubtedly try.
Here are your Brighton 0-0 Man United player ratings.
Robert Sanchez – 7.78
His best performance for some time. Made some important stops during the 90 minutes before excelling with a brilliant save from the Leader of His Majesty’s Opposition Marcus Rashford in extra time. Sanchez has given De Zerbi a dilemma now over retains the gloves for the final nine games of the Premier League season.
Pascal Gross – 7.44
Great at right back and then equally effective when pushed into midfield after Joel Veltman came on. A fine way to mark his contract extension signed last Wednesday.
Adam Webster – 7.67
A strong showing after being given the nod to start over Levi Colwill. His calmness in possession and the importance in how he and Dunk draw the press were highlighted afterwards by Carragher, alongside the pundit’s praise for Dunk.
LEWIS DUNK – 8.33
When United enjoyed their best spell towards the end of the first half, it was Dunk who kept them at bay. He tackled, he blocked and then had to change tact late on when the very different threat of Wout Weghorst entered proceedings. Just a brilliant performance from the Brighton captain.
Pervis Estupinan – 6.78
Took arguably the best Brighton penalty in the shootout. Had little bother defensively and tried to support Kaoru Mitoma in what was a difficult battle against United right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Alexis Mac Allister – 7.33
Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen struggled to dictate the game as they would have liked thanks to Mac Allister and Caicedo. Did his best to make things happen in an attacking sense too.
Moises Caicedo – 8.11
Stuck another £10 million on his asking price with a dynamic midfield display. He constantly won possession and glided past red shirts as if they were not there. A joy to watch.
Solly March – 6.67
A day that unfortunately will now always be remembered for that missed penalty. Nobody deserves that, but especially not March after the season he has had.
Julio Enciso – 6.56
After goal scoring cameos against Plucky Little Bournemouth and Chelsea, he found it much harder going to make an impact. A reminder to everyone that he is only 19 and still very raw.
Kaoru Mitoma – 6.56
Started brightly but faded a little as Wan-Bissaka managed to keep the Japanese Bullet Train quiet in a manner few other defenders have managed this season.
Danny Welbeck – 6.33
Usually thrives against the club with whom he started his career but not on this occasion. The second half header placed off target was a big miss.
Joel Veltman – 6.56
Took over where Gross had left off by doing well to shackle Rashford. Brighton looked better with his experience in the backline and Gross pushed into midfield.
Deniz Undav – 4.33
His touch was heavier than a killer whale and that ruined a couple of promising openings. Despite very obviously struggling, he still had the bottle to put his hand up and take a good penalty.
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.
