Brighton 1-2 Aston Villa: Mac Allister heads to Qatar top of ratings
Across the Premier League on the final weekend before the winter break, many players were accused of not giving 100 percent with the World Cup one week away – a charge you could not level at Alexis Mac Allister, who topped the Brighton 1-2 Aston Villa ratings.
Mac Allister scored his fifth of the season inside of 60 seconds, the fastest goal the Albion have notched in the Premier League.
Unfortunately, it was largely downhill from that point on for Brighton. Adam Lallana limped off four minutes later, Roberto De Zerbi got the replacement of his most experienced player incorrect and Villa were able to score twice and shithouse their way to victory through timewasting, play acting and dirty tactics.
There was VAR drama too, of course. Solly March should have had a penalty after his foot was nearly amputated by Lucas Digne. Even so, only those wearing the most blue and white of tinted spectacles could have argued the Albion deserved to win.
All of which made for a disappointing last outing for six weeks. And some pretty low scores in the Brighton 1-2 Aston Villa player ratings.
Robert Sanchez – 5.91
What will happen first? A human sets foot on Mars or Sanchez saves a penalty? Conceded the only two shots he faced and will have been disappointed with Villa’s second goal in particular. On the plus side, commanded his area well.
Pascal Gross – 5.73
First time that he has looked like a square peg in a round hole at right back. His lack of pace has not been shone up in the role all the time Adam Webster has been alongside him. With the slower Lewis Dunk switching to right centre back, it was more noticeable.
Lewis Dunk – 5.91
His unnecessary sliding tackle when John McGinn was about to run the ball out of play proved costly as it presented Villa with a route back into the game. Was left on the ground when Danny Ings finished the second goal. Not a good afternoon for the Albion captain, ironic really given the chants of “You’re just a shit Lewis Dunk” directed at Tyrone Mings.
Levi Colwill – 6.64
Rumours had abounded that De Zerbi might look to cancel Colwill’s loan in January and bring in another central defender. Surely not after this showing backing up his performance at Arsenal. Looked more comfortable than Dunk and clearly suits De Zerbi’s short passing style. The only blot on his copybook was putting a free header wide from six yards with 10 minutes remaining when he should have hit the target at the very least.
Pervis Estupinan – 5.91
Some good work defensively mixed in with his normal desire to get forward. Flashed some dangerous balls into the box in those moments when Brighton were on top.
Moises Caicedo – 5.82
Not at his best but that was hardly a surprise as a number of players bound for the World Cup from across the Premier League appeared to reign it in at the weekend. It is becoming increasingly clear that for Brighton to play well, Caicedo has to be at the top of his game.
ALEXIS MAC ALLISTER – 6.82
Signed off ahead of travelling to Qatar by topping the Brighton 1-2 Aston Villa player ratings. A lovely finish after his aggressive press dispossessed Douglas Luiz, although the boot was on the other foot in the second half when he was the Albion player tackled in the immediately before Ings struck the winner. There is a strong chance Mac Allister will be a World Cup winner next time we see him in an Albion shirt.
Solly March – 5.64
Struggled to get much out of Digne and yet he was still involved in the game’s major talking point when Digne booted his ankle in the area. Utterly baffling that neither referee Chris Kavanagah nor Jarred Gillett watching at Stockley Park believed it to be a penalty in another VAR shambles involving the Albion.
Adam Lallana – 4.36
One Brighton fan commented when giving Lallana 8/10: “I am scoring him highly because we were rubbish without him.” Hard to disagree that things fell apart when he limped off after a blistering opening four minutes in which the Albion looked unstoppable.
Leandro Trossard – 5.82
Moved to the left in the absence of Kaoru Mitoma. Showed flashes of his talent but appeared to be another who was playing with one eye on Qatar.
Danny Welbeck – 4.82
Barely touched the ball but that was hardly his fault as Brighton struggled to get him into the game. Welbeck’s frustrating afternoon was probably best summed up by him being hauled before the hour mark; an unheard of early exit when not enforced by injury.
Julio Enciso – 5.18
Introducing Enciso for the injured Lallana was a mistake by De Zerbi. Showed some nice touches but looked lightweight and gave the ball away too much. The substitute was substituted at the same time as Welbeck exited.
Joel Veltman – 6.18
The Albion looked more sturdy across the pitch with Veltman at right back and Gross pushed into midfield. It will be interesting to see where De Zerbi fits Veltman back into the side following the winter break.
Deniz Undav – 4.64
Even less effective than Welbeck. The more realistic of Albion fans knew that he would need time to adapt to English football as the difference between the Belgian top flight and the Premier League is huge. If we realised this, it makes you wonder what Glow Up Graham Potter and the club were thinking in selling Neal Maupay without signing a replacement in the summer transfer window.
Tariq Lamptey – 6.36
Lamptey was only on the pitch for 10 minutes at the end and yet he still managed to achieve the third highest Brighton 1-2 Aston Villa player ratings score after Mac Allister and Colwill. His pace and willingness to run at Villa caused the visitors more problems than they had encountered over the previous 80 minutes.
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.
