Brighton 1-0 Manchester United: Man of Steele tops player ratings
It has been quite the whirlwind two months for Jason Steele. At the beginning of March, he was in his fifth season as one of the Albion’s backup goalkeepers. Now he finds himself number one, keeping clean sheets and topping the player ratings as Brighton beat Manchester United 1-0 at the Amex.
Steele pulled off a series of vital saves over the 90 minutes to earn his shutout against the Red Devils, paving the way for all that late, late drama.
Not only was shot stopping impressive, but his playing out from the back too. Brighton seemed to be in a particularly risky mood, inviting the United press by delaying the pass until the last possible moment.
It did not go wrong once with Steele a huge reason why. His calmness on the ball is a joy to behold and explains why Roberto De Zerbi rates the former Sunderland man so much.
We could wax lyrical all day about Steele and what he brings to the party. But the 13 other players who contributed to the Albion’s revenge mission 11 days after FA Cup semi final heartbreak against the Red Devils deserve praise too.
Here are your Brighton 1-0 Manchester United player ratings.
JASON STEELE – 9.36
An exemplary display of goalkeeping. Made big saves Marcus Rashford, Antony, Anthony Martial and Bruno Fernandes. Without his brilliance and an equally impressive showing from opposite number David De Gea, it could quite easily have finished 4-4.
Moises Caicedo – 8.55
With Joel Veltman, Tariq Lamptey and Pascal Gross unavailable, right back duties fell to Caicedo. Did a fine job of keeping Rashford quiet with this new-found versatility meaning Arsenal can add another £20 million onto their opening summer bid.
Adam Webster – 8.82
His best performance for some time. Brilliant in possession at centre half before ending the game at right back. Looked like the cat who has got the cream when gleefully taking advantage of the greater freedom to charge forward afforded by his new role.
Lewis Dunk – 8.82
England manager Gareth Southgate was watching from the stands and normally when that is the case, Dunk tends to throw in a mistake. Not on this occasion. Marked Martial out of the game largely, showcased his ability on the ball and left that weasel Antony under no illusions not to mess with anyone in blue and white when the United winger lost his head in the second half.
Pervis Estupinan – 8.36
The only player along with Dunk who is yet to be rested since the start of April, making the energy levels he continues to display seriously impressive. Gave another all-action display up and down the left flank.
Billy Gilmour – 8.00
Another really good performance in the holding midfield role to go with his masterclass in the 6-0 win against Wolves. Won plenty of tackles and covered plenty of ground, preventing Fernandes from dictating the game as he would have liked.
Alexis Mac Allister – 9.18
Steele’s brilliance means Mac Allister has to settle for second place in the Brighton 1-0 Manchester United ratings. United’s only answer to stopping him was frequent fouls which bubbled into an assault from Antony. Nothing could stop him, however, and he was calmness personified when firing that 99th minute penalty into the top corner to win the game.
Facundo Buonanotte – 7.18
Came in on the right with Solly March rested. Showed great vision and produced some lovely touches in a display mature beyond his 18 years.
Julio Enciso – 7.64
Grew in prominence as the game wore on following a quiet first half. Having said that, he may well have given Brighton the lead inside of 10 minutes if Kaoru Mitoma had squared when one-on-one with De Gea rather than going for goal himself.
Kaoru Mitoma – 7.18
Mitoma against Aaron Wan-Bissaka was one of the most intriguing battles when Brighton faced United at Wembley last time out. Mitoma had a bit more joy on this occasion, including with that one-on-one effort saved by the face of De Gea. You would have to say though that Wan-Bissaka came out on top again.
Danny Welbeck – 7.00
Dropped deep at times to play as a 10 when the Albion really needed him to be the focal point of the attack. Not his best evening.
Solly March – 7.55
Brighton enjoyed their best spell with March on the pitch, keeping De Gea increasingly busy in the build up to the penalty. Some great solo runs and it was his corner whipped in which Luke Shaw handled to give Mac Allister the opportunity to win it.
Levi Colwill – 6.55
Not often you see a manager make a tactical change which involves putting on a defender. Colwill’s introduction saw Webster at right back and freed up Caicedo to return to midfield. Things did not get off to a good start when Colwill was booked within minutes of coming on. He did well to manage the game after that, playing his part in the clean sheet.
Deniz Undav – 6.73
His hold up play and ability to bring others into the game proved useful in the closing stages. No chance to add to his first two Premier League goals scored against Wolves but you can see he is growing in confidence every week.
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.
