Brighton 1-1 Everton: Dunk tops ratings on Albion league game 400
Lewis Dunk marked his 400th league appearance for the Albion in style, heading home a 95th minute equaliser and securing top spot in the Brighton 1-1 Everton player ratings.
The Seagulls looked like they were going to see their woeful record at the Amex against teams managed by Stone Cold Sean Dyche continue, the current Toffees manager having not lost in Sussex since 2013.
Everton led through a Jarrad Branthwaite volley and when Billy Gilmour picked up a reckless red card with 10 minutes remaining, the Albion looked done.
Dunk and Pascal Gross through had other ideas. The two Brighton stalwarts who have done more than any other players to establish the Seagulls in the Premier League combined, a beautiful cross from Der Kaiser being headed home by the captain to rescue a point.
Gross is now the leading assister in the Premier League this season and unsuprisingly trailed Dunk in the ratings by just 0.25 points as the Seagulls avoided coming unstuck against the Toffees.
Dunk and Gross aside, seven of the remaining starting XI scored seven or more in the Brighton 1-1 Everton ratings, indicative of a decent team performance even if the final result was somewhat frustrating.
Bart Verbruggen – 7.00
Never really tested by Everton and there was nothing he could do when Braithwaite picked out the top corner for the Toffees goal.
Tariq Lamptey – 7.38
Four Premier League starts in a row now for the right back is his best run in two years. The perfect positioning followed by the acrobatic header off the line in the second half represented a magnificent piece of defending. Also impressed with the manner in which he coped with Dwight McNeil, who had torn Brighton apart on the Toffee’s past two visits to the Amex.
Jan Paul van Hecke – 7.63
Another towering performance from the Dutch centre back. Brighton defences of the past have often struggled against Dominic Calvert-Lewin but the work of Van Hecke and Dunk ensured the England international barely got a sniff other than a glancing first half header wide.
LEWIS DUNK – 8.38
Cometh the hour, cometh the captain. Jordan Pickford had made a string of fine saves through the second half, meaning that Dunk picking out the one corner the Everton goalkeeper could not reach was so, so important. Aside from the goal, he will have pleased to have got the better of Calvert-Lewin for once.
Igor Julio – 7.13
Igor! Igor! Igor! Replaced Adam Webster having started on the bench in last week’s 5-0 win over Sheffield United and put in a decent shift.
Pascal Gross – 8.13
Did our eyes deceive us or did Brighton almost score from two corners against Everton? Van Hecke and Dunk should have done better with pinpoint Gross deliveries in the first half. Der Kaiser eventually got the assist he deserved, two Gross turns opening up enough space for a beautiful right footed cross curled perfectly towards Dunk. What a player.
Billy Gilmour – 6.25
The second lowest score in the Brighton 1-1 Everton ratings on account of his silly red card. Not only did it leave the Albion chasing an equaliser with only 10 men, but it also rules him out of three matches as Brighton start a run of six huge games in 20 days. The timing of a ban could not be worse.
Facundo Buonanotte – 7.38
Another promising display from the Argentine teenager. Other than Gross, he looked the most likely to create an opening for the Seagulls as they sought to make the most of their 65 percent possession.
Danny Welbeck – 7.25
A lively start saw Dat Guy go close to giving Brighton the lead twice in the opening 20 minutes. Poked a one-on-one just wide of Pickford for the first and then saw an effort deflected wide for the second.
Simon Adingra – 7.50
Received a rousing reception from the Amex on his first home game back as an AFCON champion. Had the Everton defence worried on a couple of occasions with lively runs.
Evan Ferguson – 5.63
Struggled to get involved as his goalless run continued. You can either attribute that to his poor form and a lack of confidence or the fact that playing Ferguson and Welbeck in the same starting XI never seems to work. What his current struggles should remind everyone – hello Chelsea and your £100 million bid – is that Ferguson is far from the finished article and needs more time to learn and progress at the Amex.
Joel Veltman – 5.75
Maybe should have done better as one of the players challenging Ben Godfrey in the air when the Toffees defender headed down a Pickford punt up the pitch in the build up to the Everton goal.
Pervis Estupinan – 5.75
Has gone from one of the first names on the team sheet to spending most of February on the bench. Like Ferguson, he is too good a player for his form not turn around sometime soon.
Ansu Fati – 6.50
Ended a week in which he popped round to Roberto De Zerbi’s home for a pasta dinner with a decent cameo off the bench. Before Dunk struck, Fati had come as close as anyone to finding an equaliser with an effort somehow blocked by an Everton defender.
Julio Enciso – 7.50
So good to see Enciso back after six months out with a meniscus injury… even if his first task was to watch Brighton go 1-0 down whilst the crowd were still cheering him after his introduction.
Adam Lallana – 5.75
A sign that Lallana’s career is meandering to its close came when De Zerbi only turned to him to try and unlock Everton so late in the game, whereas his guile and creativity would have been called upon much earlier in the past.
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.
