Brighton 0-0 Wolves: Clean sheet puts defence on top in ratings
You wait 25 Premier League games for a clean sheet, and then two come along in as many matches. Brighton 0-0 Wolves saw the Albion record their second consecutive top flight shutout, earning the defence good marks in the player ratings.
Jan Paul van Hecke led the way with another dominating display at centre back. Not far beyond was Jason Steele, who made a number of important second half interventions as the Old Gold looked dangerous on the break.
Joining Van Hecke and Steele as the only other player to score higher than a seven was Billy Gilmour. The further forward you go, the lower the ratings as the Albion’s attacking players struggled to find a way through a well organised defence.
That makes these Brighton 0-0 Wolves player ratings very much a case of swings and roundabouts – a welcome clean sheet and the Albion looking more solid at the back, but somewhat toothless up front without any of their flying wingers.
Jason Steele – 7.31
One of his best games of the season. Passing was spot on in the first half with a couple of long grounded balls getting the Albion 60 yards up the pitch and into space. Made big saves in the second half from Matheus Cunha and Mario Lemina, without which Brighton would have been defeated.
Jack Hinshelwood – 6.38
With Brighton so narrow in midfield, the onus was on Hinshelwood and Pervis Estupinan to provide width going forward. Hinshelwood never really managed that, other than when galloping clear in the second half and delivering a low cross almost turned in for a comical own goal. It would not have been a patch on Adam Hinshelwood against Colchester on Boxing Day 2008 at Withdean, of course.
JAN PAUL VAN HECKE – 7.62
Van Hecke proved a constant source of frustration to the visitors as he always put himself into the right place at the right time to cut out their frequent counter attacks. Almost had a goal too with a flicked header early on which required Jose Sa to palm over the bar on the stretch.
Lewis Dunk – 6.85
Was made to look a little slow at times by the rapid Wolves forward players. Still did a decent job alongside Van Hecke, playing his part in the clean sheet.
Pervis Estupinan – 6.92
Given a good test defensively by Pedro Neto. Delivered some dangerous set pieces which meant Albion fans did not for once come away from a game bemused at how a highly paid team of Premier League footballers can be so rubbish when it comes to corners and free kicks.
Pascal Gross – 6.54
Added creative responsibilities were heaped on the shoulders of Der Kaiser in the absence of any natural width. Not his best night, as summed up when he injured himself kicking the ground rather than the ball when attempting a shot in the final minutes.
Billy Gilmour – 7.38
One of the few Albion players who offered energy and zest. Some of his touches and passes were sublime whilst his work rate was off the charts, going from sitting in front of the back four one minute to popping up in support of the front three the next.
James Milner – 6.08
Premier League game number 633 put Milner into second spot on the all-time appearance list, behind only Gareth Barry. His most notable moment of the evening came when setting another record after being involved in the slowest overlap in Premier League history when combining with Gross down the left midway through the first half.
Facundo Buonanotte – 6.00
Decent enough evening overshadowed by one terrible piece of decision making when he attempted to a head ball four yards off the ground into the net at the far post. A foot, a shin, a knee… literally any part of his leg swung at it and Brighton probably would have taken a 12th minute lead. Instead, Tommy Doyle was able to clear off the line.
Danny Welbeck – 5.54
Powerful first half drive from distance looped narrowly over the bar via a deflection in his best chance of the game. Some good link up play means it seems a little harsh that Welbeck is the lowest scoring member of the starting XI in the Brighton 0-0 Wolves ratings.
Joao Pedro – 6.08
Looked to have escaped the Wolves backline to get in one-on-one with Sa early in the second half, only for Nelson Semedo to make the tackle of the night. God only knows what he was doing attempting 27 stepovers rather than shooting when stood 12 yards from goal, front and centre in the final 10 minutes.
Evan Ferguson – 5.08
Ferguson is clinical enough to make only one decent sight of goal count. Unfortunately, he was unable to get even that in his 25 minutes on the pitch. Enough to put off Chelsea submitting a bid in excess of £100 million… hopefully.
Tariq Lamptey – 5.00
Made a welcome return from injury after nearly two months out. Introduced on the right wing, Roberto De Zerbi clearly wanted Lamptey to provide the width and pace so obviously missing. His teammates responded by focussing all their attacks exclusively down the left. Make it make sense.
Adam Lallana – 4.92
Some silky touches in promising positions before the ball seemed to get stuck under his feet. When even the normally mesmerising Lallana is struggling to do much, you know it is one of those nights.
Adam Webster – 4.54
His introduction saw Brighton switch to a back three as De Zerbi pushed another body forward to try and create an overload in the final third. All it seemed to achieve was making the Albion more vulnerable on the counter, most notably when Neto was able to streak away from Webster. Earned a booking for one of his attempts to halt the Portuguese winger.
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.
