Brighton 1-4 Man City: Terrific Tariq Lamptey tops player ratings in 30 mins
Watch out Premier League, he is back. Tariq Lamptey was only on the pitch for 30 minutes of Brighton 1-4 Man City but he still did enough in that time to top the WAB Player Ratings and in convincing style too.
The most expensively assembled squad in English football history struggled to cope with the threat posed by Lamptey. Brighton dominated their illustrious opponents once Lamptey and Enock Mwepu were introduced from the bench to the point where Ederson ended up booked for time wasting as City tried to take the sting out of the game.
Unfortunately, the Albion were already 3-0 down by that point having endured a pretty horrific opening half hour. Some individual mistakes were ruthlessly punished by the champions as Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Gabriel Jesus and Bernardo Silva ran riot.
Such a contrast in performance between first half and second half always leads to some interesting player ratings as people struggle to know whether to base their score on the woeful 45 minutes or the good 45 minutes.
These Brighton 1-4 Man City player ratings are no different. Here is how you rated the Albion for their efforts against Pep Guardiola’s billion petrodollar squad.
Robert Sanchez – 4.91
A reminder that Big Bob is a young goalkeeper still learning his trade. Yes, there might have been a foul on him in the build up to the first goal but anyone with aspirations of being Spain number one should be holding onto the ball under that sort of pressure regardless. He also could have done better with City’s third which beat him at his near post.
Joel Veltman – 5.73
Preferred to Shane Duffy as one of the three starting centre backs, presumably because he is better on the ball and Graham Potter felt that would make him less susceptible to City’s aggressive pressing. Did not do much wrong but was unable to pocket Grealish as he had so effectively against Aston Villa at the Amex last season.
Lewis Dunk – 6.45
Named as sponsors’ man-of-the-match, presumably because of THAT bicycle kick which hooked Jesus’ effort off the line. It was an utterly outrageous piece of defending which rightly earned a standing ovation from the Amex. As for the rest of his game, he did okay against a very good City attack, bar struggling to get to grips with Grealish in the build up to the second goal.
Dan Burn – 5.18
Was he playing in a back three, as a centre back in a flat back four or as an orthodox left back? Nobody seemed to know as he was a bit all over the place, which goes part of the way towards explaining why the Albion struggled so much in the first half.
Solly March – 6.27
Had a lot of defending to do in the first half. Given a more attacking role once Lamptey was introduced, managing to test Ederson with a powerful drive and deliver a teasing cross which was not far away from reaching Neal Maupay.
Adam Lallana – 6.73
Some silky moments of skill left City’s midfielders bamboozled at points. Did some important defensive work too although it was hard not to wonder how he might have fared with Yves Bissouma in there giving him a bit more freedom.
Jakub Moder – 6.18
His quietest game of the season. Covered plenty of ground but struggled to make much impact either defensively or going forward bar seeing Ederson keep out his deflected shot. Ended the game by being the man responsible for City adding their fourth.
Pascal Gross – 6.36
Probably the biggest victim of whatever that first half formation and setup was meant to be. There was a five minute point where he was playing as the Albion’s deepest player, behind the defence almost as a sweeper. Had a good chance to score once Potter sorted things out at half time but he put his effort straight at Ederson.
Marc Cucurella – 6.73
One loose pass led to the blistering counter from which City’s second goal arrived. He was one of the better Albion players on show otherwise, still managing to get forward regularly even when Brighton were under the cosh.
Leandro Trossard – 6.73
Brighton’s inability to get on the front foot meant that he was barely seen in the first half. Much improved in the second as he began to test City with several efforts that had Ederson looking a little concerned.
Neal Maupay – 5.36
Work rate could not be faulted but he was anonymous to the point that Potter hauled him with 30 minutes still to play, leaving the Albion to try and chase the game without a natural striker on the pitch.
TARIQ LAMPTEY – 8.00
The first time that many Brighton fans will have seen him in the flesh after 10 months out injured following hamstring surgery. Turns out he is even more exciting to witness live than on television, including when turning Grealish inside out to somehow make it to the by-line and cross from what had looked like a dead end.
Enock Mwepu – 7.18
It says much about the impact that Potter’s substitutes had that Lamptey topped the Brighton 1-4 Man City player ratings and Mwepu scored second. Introduced in a more advanced role than we have seen him used in so far, he looked to drive at the visiting defence and make things happen. It was an intelligent piece of play that saw him draw a foul from Ederson for the penalty when he was in a position to pose little threat to the City goal.
Alexis Mac Allister – 6.64
Already has his fair share of goals and assists from the bench and added another when converting the spot kick won by Mwepu. Ederson got a hand to it but the penalty had too much power to be kept out.
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.
