Brighton 1-0 Bournemouth: Mitoma goal earns top spot in ratings
The best teams find a way to win when they have not played particularly well. Brighton did precisely that in their 1-0 victory against Plucky Little Bournemouth with the man who belatedly came to the party right at the end topping the player ratings.
Bournemouth double marked Kaoru Mitoma for much of the afternoon. With the Albion struggling to get their most potent attacker into the game, it looked like proceedings were meandering towards a 0-0 draw.
The thing with Mitoma is that he only needs one chance to make a difference. In the end, he had two, both of which came in the final five minutes.
Neto saved the first at his near post. There was nothing that the Cherries goalkeeper could do about the second, a towering header from a Jeremy Sarmiento cross which sent the Amex wild with only 180 seconds of normal time remaining.
Roberto De Zerbi said of Mitoma afterwards: “He has natural quality. Today he didn’t play a fantastic game, but when you have Mitoma on the pitch you can never substitute him because you always expect one goal.”
And one goal is what he delivered. Here is how Mitoma and the rest of his teammates scored in the Brighton 1-0 Bournemouth ratings.
Robert Sanchez – 6.58
Made a couple of decent saves on his way to a clean sheet. Passing needs to be better, however; there was a period in the first half where he seemed to forget Brighton play in blue and white stripes
Tariq Lamptey – 6.83
Made his second Premier League start of the season after being linked with a January move away from the Amex. Charged forward on plenty of occasions, most notably when being the furthest Albion player up the pitch during one first half counter.
Joel Veltman – 6.92
A lot of defenders would have struggled trying to negotiate 75 minutes on a yellow card following a very early booking. Not Veltman though, who was class personified. The perfectly timed tackle in the box to half a Bournemouth attack midway through the first half was outstanding.
Lewis Dunk – 7.42
His 400th career appearance summed up these past 13 years nicely. Commanding at the back, kept his side going right until the end and took the opportunity to display his passing range.
Pervis Estupinan – 8.00
Had Mitoma not produced his late heroics, then Estupinan would have deservedly sat at the top of the Brighton 1-0 Bournemouth player ratings. His recovery run and last man block as Antoine Semenyo pulled the trigger on a one-on-one was celebrated by Sanchez as wildly as if it were a goal; an indication of just how important that moment was.
Billy Gilmour – 7.08
Handed an opportunity in the absence of Alexis Mac Allister and De Zerbi opting to start Moises Caicedo on the bench. He kept play ticking over in midfield with short, sharp passes from a position in front of the back four.
Pascal Gross – 6.92
His calmness played an underrated part in the Brighton goal as he slowed things down and picked the correct pass out to Jeremy Sarmiento, when the temptation would have been to get the ball into the box as quickly as possible out of desperation.
Solly March – 6.83
Had a lot of joy down the right with some typically probing runs. Should have had an assist but Danny Welbeck could only head the pinpoint cross March delivered straight at Neto.
Danny Welbeck – 6.08
Lots of hard work and clever runs created space for others to exploit. His finishing let him down, most notably with that headed opportunity but also when he did brilliantly to win the ball back only to fire over the bar when he should have at least worked Neto just before being substituted.
KAORU MITOMA – 8.08
A quiet match for 85 minutes before bursting into life in the final five and winning it for Brighton. Leapt like the proverbial salmon for the goal, a powerful header which showed another side to his game.
Deniz Undav – 6.58
Linked up play well and showed some nice, intelligent touches on his full Premier League debut. Overshadowed of course by missing three chances from 12 yards away in the space of 10 seconds.
Moises Caicedo – 6.92
Given the rapturous welcome back which De Zerbi had asked for from the Albion crowd, once they had worked out who Caicedo and Odel Offiah were. Banished any worries of a drop-off in performance levels following the Arsenal transfer saga by being his normal busy self and celebrated the goal like a man who still wants to play a part for Brighton.
Jeremy Sarmiento – 7.67
His introduction at number 10 saw the Albion switch to a more familiar 4-2-3-1 formation. Brought more excitement to proceedings and claimed an assist with the perfect cross for Mitoma. Must be in contention to start away at Crystal Palace next week.
Julio Enciso – 6.33
First time we have seen him as an out-and-out striker and he did enough to cause problems for Bournemouth leading up to the late drama.
Facundo Buonanotte – 6.25
Not many would have predicted that De Zerbi would hand the 18-year-old his Brighton debut at the earliest available opportunity. Used the ball wisely.
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.
