Brighton 1-2 Leicester City: Ratings leave Lallana in a class of his own
Adam Lallana did not deserve to be on the losing side of Brighton 1-2 Leicester City, something that everyone who watched can agree on and a fact backed up by his lofty position at the top of the player ratings.
Lallana finished a whole 1.17 points ahead of his nearest rival, Ben White. Watching the former Liverpool man in the first half was an absolute joy.
Every pass he played was perfect, every touch he made purposeful and the way in which he glided into the Leicester box to clinically despatch Neal Maupay’s through ball past Kasper Schmeichel was the sort of finish we have rarely seen from players in blue this season.
He even gave one of the most honest post-match interviews of the season so far. There was none of Graham Potter’s hiding behind positives, learning and bad luck – instead, Lallana said it exactly how it was.
“Second half we were poor. It almost felt like we had won the game at half-time. If you drop your levels you get punished. There have been games we’ve felt hard done by but today doesn’t feel like that. We didn’t perform well enough in the second half. We all dropped off a couple of percent. We were too passive and we got punished.”
Here is how you rated Lallana and his teammates for their good first half, passive second half in Brighton 1-2 Leicester City.
Robert Sanchez – 5.00
Who would be a goalkeeper? Went from producing an incredible first half stop at full stretch which kept out Sidnei Tavares’s thumping volley to gifting Leicester their winner when missing an easy punch in the final five minutes. Still young and still learning, he will hopefully become a better player for that mistake. It would have been interesting to see the reaction had Maty Ryan been the one making it…
Joel Veltman – 6.29
After a series of standout performances in February, this was a return to his solid-yet-unspectacular form of the first half of the season. One perfect tackle was the highlight.
Lewis Dunk – 5.86
The lowest scoring defender in the Brighton 1-2 Leicester ratings on what was a difficult evening. Lost at sea when Youri Tielemans and Kelechi Iheanacho combined for the Foxes’ equaliser and was fortunate not to concede a penalty after appearing to get none of the ball when sliding in on Jamie Vardy.
Ben White – 6.43
With Dunk floundering, it was down to Ben White to make the crucial last ditch tackles and interventions that the Albion captain normally specialises at. He did well, but this is a defence badly missing Adam Webster.
Dan Burn – 6.00
After his horror show in the previous Premier League fixture between Brighton and Leicester at the King Power Stadium in December, he will have been delighted to see none of James Justin, Harvey Barnes or James Maddison fit for the Foxes. One of his better games, including starting the move which led to the Brighton goal with a clever header to Lallana.
Yves Bissouma – 6.00
Better than at West Brom and against Crystal Palace but still nowhere near the player he was in the first half of the season. Most of his decent moments came defensively, including a couple of superbly timed tackles to break up Leicester attacks as the visitors got on top in the second half.
Alexis Mac Allister – 5.86
Shone throughout January in the number 10 role, so Graham Potter has obviously decided to starting using him much deeper. As one of the Albion players most likely to make something happen, his withdrawal five minutes after Leicester equalised was baffling.
Pascal Gross – 5.86
Like Mac Allister, he was given a new role from the one in which he has played so well recently. For the German playmaker, that meant playing on the right. Not as influential as normal, although he did produce one perfectly weighted pass across the edge of the area in the second half which Lallana met to draw a good save from Kasper Schmeichel.
ADAM LALLANA – 7.57
One of Potter’s positional changes which worked as Lallana topped the player ratings for Brighton 1-2 Leicester by a considerable margin. He was deployed further forward than in his Brighton career so far and it paid off handsomely. His goal came via a sweet finish, he was unlucky to hit a post with a deft header from a Gross free kick and the around-the-corner flick which put Neal Maupay in for a goal disallowed for offside was sublime.
Leandro Trossard – 4.00
The only consistency with Leandro Trossard is his inconsistency. Looked lively enough in the opening exchanges but then faded into anonymity. Only Potter will know why he did not haul the Belgian over Mac Allister and Maupay.
Neal Maupay – 5.71
His assist for Lallana’s goal required strength, vision and the ability to thread a well weighted through ball. It served as further proof that as wasteful as he is when presented with chances, he is in the team for much more than scoring goals. Maupay up top with Lallana playing just behind is an intriguing prospect.
Steve Alzate – 5.14
Leicester were dominating when Potter turned to Alzate to try and exert more control on the game for the final 25 minutes. Never managed to do that. Hindsight suggests that introducing pace to play on the counter and give Leicester a different threat to think about may have been more beneficial.
Danny Welbeck – 4.57
Played a part in working that late chance for Lallana. With Brighton chasing a goal, it would have been nice to see him introduced alongside Maupay rather than in place of the Frenchman.
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.
