Brighton 0-0 Everton: Ratings show Bissouma back to his brilliant best
Brighton 0-0 Everton is not a match that will be remembered for much, with one honourable exception – the performance of Yves Bissouma, who was miles clear of anyone at the top of our player ratings.
Gary Lineker called Bissouma exceptional. Jamie Carragher said he was too good to move to Arsenal. The Malian is being noticed by everyone in English football and it now seems implausible that Brighton will hold onto him for the 2021-22 season in light of an inevitable bid from one of the word’s biggest clubs.
The Albion racked up 23 shots across 90 minutes against an Everton side who are still just about in Champions League contention. That was largely thanks to the brilliance of Bissouma and Adam Lallana.
At the other end, the Toffees may have been without Dominic Calvert-Levin but the Albion defence still had to cope with James Rodriquez (who still appears to be a man) and Richarlison.
There were high ratings all around the back three for the fact that they ensured Robert Sanchez did not have a save of any note to make.
Which was just as well given he was playing on one leg in the first half with Jason Steele warming up vigorously. Can you imagine…
Thankfully, there was no need for anybody to include Steele in their Brighton 0-0 Everton player ratings – the full list of which is as follows…
Robert Sanchez – 6.55
A quiet evening, other than when nearly gifting Richarlison a goal after miscontrolling a back pass. The Spaniard recovered well to tackle the Everton forward but paid a price, hurting his ankle in the process and spending most of the first half limping around.
Ben White – 7.18
His normal composed self in the back three. Won plenty of headers and kept Richarlison relatively quiet. It was notable however that he did not pop up in attacking positions as frequently as normal.
Lewis Dunk – 7.73
Picked up a silly booking after getting caught and turned by Richarlison. Saw a header tipped over at full stretch by Robin Olsen. Still not sure how he has achieved such a high rating other than just being Lewis Dunk.
Joel Veltman – 7.09
With Jakub Moder wanting to spend most of his time in the final third, it felt like the Dutch international was covering both left centre back and left back at times. He did this well, making several important interventions.
Pascal Gross – 6.45
His quietest game for some time. Made one Gross turn and a couple of nice passes. Carlo Ancelotti appeared to be aware of the unique threat both he and Moder posed in Brighton’s new W-M formation and had set his side up well to nullify it.
YVES BISSOUMA – 8.64
What can we say that Lineker and Carragher haven’t? He was everywhere again, imperious in defence and fascinating in attack. Nothing summed it up better than in the first half when he produced a physics-defying bicycle kick which just dropped onto the top of the Everton net, followed 30 seconds later by him popping back down the other end to nick the ball off the foot of Rodriguez as the Colombian was about to pull the trigger.
Adam Lallana – 7.73
In years to come, Brighton fans will look back at these past few weeks when Bissouma and Lallana were paired in tandem and realise how lucky we were to see two players of such quality pulling the strings together. He glides around the pitch and is just so smooth to watch. A joy.
Jakub Moder – 6.64
As with Gross, Ancelotti seemed to have his card marked. Still managed to deliver a couple of sweetly struck first time volleys which were not far away. If he can find his range, then he could be the goal scoring midfielder who chips in with five or six a season which Brighton need to ease the burden on their forwards.
Leandro Trossard – 6.36
After several weeks of blowing hot – so hot that he was on the shortlist for March’s Premier League Player of the Month award – this was a return to the cold performances of the winter. Struggled to get involved, although his effectiveness did seem to be blunted by Neal Maupay playing more centrally in the spaces which Trossard has been so effective breaking into.
Neal Maupay – 5.73
Oh, Neal! He created more chances than every player on the pitch put together in the first half but nobody remembers that after two more glaring misses were added to his ever growing collection.
Danny Welbeck – 5.91
Whilst we have come to expect a lack of composure in front of goal from Maupay, Dat Guy also struggled in Brighton 0-0 Everton despite coming into the game in red-hot form after topping the ratings away at Manchester United last time out. Still put in a shift, popping up in unusual defensive positions.
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.
