Brighton 0-2 Man United: Baleba tops ratings to show future is still bright
Roberto De Zerbi took his final bow at the Amex and whilst there has been a fair amount of doom and gloom over his departure, the Brighton 0-2 Man United player ratings offer reasons to be positive about the future.
Leading the way was Carlos Baleba thanks to a powerhouse midfield performance. Next came Valentin Barco, continuing a strong end to the season which also saw him top the ratings in Wednesday night’s defeat to Chelsea.
Both Baleba and Barco are aged under 21. Whoever replaces De Zerbi should enjoy working with them whilst they can, because it will not be long until one of the European Super League Elite Six come in with a big money bid. And when we say one of, we obviously mean Chelsea.
Here are your Brighton 0-2 Man United player ratings.
Jason Steele – 5.57
One good thing about De Zerbi departing is we will hopefully never have to witness goalkeeper rotation again. Steele should have done better with the second United goal which appeared to be going straight at him.
Jakub Moder – 6.71
De Zerbi’s final gift to the Albion could well be the reinvention of Moder as a full back. Had possibly his best game of the season, including one outrageous last man sliding tackle to prevent a United one-on-one.
Adam Webster – 7.14
It has been something of a hit-and-miss campaign for Webster but he has finished it strongly. Another solid performance in which he went close to scoring three times with headers in the first half.
Igor Julio – 5.29
Not his best afternoon as he bore responsibility for both United goals. You get the impression he is better at left back than centre half.
Valentin Barco – 7.14
Barco is going to be some player next season. Dilligent defensively and ridiculously exciting going forward. Some of his crosses were exceptional.
Pascal Gross – 6.86
With rumours of a return to Germany gathering pace, this might well have been auf wiedersehen to Gross as well as De Zerbi. Created some good first half openings which Brighton were unable to take.
CARLOS BALEBA – 7.57
Shades of Yves Bissouma in the way he ran the midfield to top the Brighton 0-2 Man United ratings. Particularly enjoyable was the superb pass threaded through a tight gap in the United defence to put Barco in on goal for a one-on-one saved by the legs of Andre Onana.
Simon Adingra – 6.00
Linked up with Moder well down the right before fading as the game wore on. Still, a successful first season as a Premier League regular.
Adam Lallana – 5.86
Received a standing ovation when substituted on 55 minutes of his final Brighton appearance after announcing his departure from the Amex earlier in the week. Signed off with plenty of silky touches.
Joao Pedro – 7.14
Put in an absolute shift on the left. Dragged an effort wide when he maybe should have scored but after 20 goals in a season where he spent eight weeks injured, he can be forgiven.
Danny Welbeck – 6.29
Dat Guy usually loves scoring against former clubs but there was none of that on this occasion. Hard to recall him even having a shot.
Julio Enciso – 5.86
Enciso tends to be either really good or really crap and his 35 minutes here fell into the latter category – summed up when he gave the ball away cheaply twice in as many minutes.
Billy Gilmour – 5.57
A late introduction to the midfield party. Was unable to help the Albion find a way back into proceedings.
Ansu Fati – 4.86
One of the reasons cited for Tony Bloom getting rid of De Zerbi is the Brighton owner being unimpressed by the signings specifically requested by the head coach. Fati’s cameo from the bench will have only served to reinforce Bloom’s judgement as the on loan Barcelona man offered nothing.
Tariq Lamptey – 5.29
His pace could have given Brighton another threat had he been brought on earlier. Instead, it was a case of too little, too late.
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.
