Brighton 1-0 Aston Villa: Adingra awesome to top ratings
After six games without victory, Brighton returned to winning ways by beating Aston Villa and recording the best set of player ratings in some time along the way.
Simon Adingra and the recalled Adam Webster led the way, both scoring in the eights. Villa looked terrified whenever Adingra was on the ball, culminating in him winning the penalty which led to the Albion goal.
Webster meanwhile returned to the starting XI for the first time since a somewhat calamitous display in the 3-0 defeat to Fulham at the end of February.
He more than justified the faith of Roberto De Zerbi with a faultless showing, marking the dangerous Ollie Watkins out of proceedings. De Zerbi’s decision to go with experience over youth in his starting XI paid off handsomely.
Here are your Brighton 1-0 Aston Villa player ratings.
Bart Verbruggen – 7.00
Only had to make one save early on from Moussa Diaby. Otherwise he was well protected by his defence on the way to recording a fourth clean sheet in his past eight appearances.
Joel Veltman – 7.17
Odel Offiah and Valentin Barco were replaced by Veltman and Webster, giving the Albion defence a much more sturdy look. The Dutchman’s best performance for some time.
Adam Webster – 8.00
An excellent afternoon for a player written off in many quarters after an injury hit, underwhelming campaign in which he has slipped down the pecking order. Looked more comfortable than before in playing the risky passing football DeZerbiBall demands.
Lewis Dunk – 7.17
Lost out to Watkins once but was bailed out by a covering teammate. His England teammate received no change out of either Dunk or Webster other than that, whilst one first half pass to pick and release Adingra was David Beckham-esque.
Igor Julio – 7.17
Igor! Igor! Igor! Miles better at left back than he had been playing centre half in the 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth last week. Got forward with purpose at times, most notably with the low and hard cross tucked away by Pascal Gross for the offside goal.
Pascal Gross – 6.50
A hardworking display with a couple of moments of magic means he seems to have been harshly scored in the Brighton 1-0 Villa player ratings. Perhaps it would have been different had his goal stood or a good opportunity in first half injury time not been well saved by Robin Olsen.
Billy Gilmour – 7.17
Sat very deep as De Zerbi opted to try and stifle Villa rather than try and outscore them, probably due to still having nightmares about the 6-1 defeat at Villa Park in September. It worked as Brighton were rock solid through the middle.
Facundo Buonanotte – 6.17
Always looked to get Brighton on the front foot but this was one of those afternoons where things never really came off him. Summed up best by his replacement Julio Enciso proving the spark that helped Brighton dominate the final 30 minutes.
Joao Pedro – 7.33
His penalty scoring streak might have come to an end, yet he reacted instantly to nod home the rebound for his 20th goal of the season. A good showing buzzing behind Danny Welbeck; evidence that playing Pedro centrally is the most effective way of getting the best out of him.
SIMON ADINGRA – 8.17
Adingra has looked tired in recent weeks and nobody could blame him for that after a marathon first campaign in English football. This though was a throwback to the exciting winger he was up until Christmas. Played a part when the Albion forced Olsen into two good saves, released Igor to cross for the disallowed goal and then won the penalty for the winner. We know DeZerbiBall relies on wide players being on song and to that end, he was magnificent.
Danny Welbeck – 6.67
Linked the play well and helped Adingra get on the ball as much as he did. Only one chance came his way, a difficult looping header which he did really well to meet in the first place. It dropped just wide of the post.
Julio Enciso – 7.00
It had been a solid if unspectacular Albion display until Enciso was introduced for the final 30 minutes. He injected energy, bravery and a bit more excitement into the team which resulted in a lot more pressure on the Villa goal. Ultimately, that transpired into a late winner.
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.
