Brighton 3-1 Newcastle: Fabulous Ferguson tops player ratings
No prizes for guessing who topped the Brighton 3-1 Newcastle United player ratings. Hat-trick hero Evan Ferguson was the name on everyone’s lips after his sensational treble saw off the third best team in the Premier League last season.
Based on what we saw against the Saudi Sportswashers, Ferguson will break Alan Shearer’s Premier League scoring record. He is going to win a Ballon d’or. Get on TonyBet and stick your mortgage on Ferguson firing the Republic of Ireland to the 2030 World Cup.
Are we getting carried away? Possibly. But Ferguson has to be the most exciting young player to break through at the Albion, which is saying something given the talent Brighton have polished and sold over the past three years.
Aside from Ferguson, there were plenty of other impressive individual performances. Here are your Brighton 3-1 Newcastle player ratings.
Bart Verbruggen – 7.80
Showed quick reactions to get down to his left and keep out a cross almost diverted in by Lewis Dunk. A ridiculous Cruyff Turn almost on his own goal line which completely flummoxed a Newcastle player was another big highlight.
Joel Veltman – 7.93
Tightened up the right side of the Albion defence markedly compared to what happened in the previous week’s defeat to West Ham. Has to be first choice right back ahead of James Milner now.
Jan Paul van Hecke – 8.73
The shaky start to his Brighton career is fast fading to memory. A colossal performance at the back, including one brilliant sliding challenge on Alexander Isak which prevented Newcastle taking an early lead.
Lewis Dunk – 7.47
Not his best evening defensively with two moments of note seeing him fail to cut out a dangerous Newcastle pass followed by almost scoring an own goal. Settled better in the second half.
Pervis Estupinan – 7.47
A less swashbuckling performance than we have become accustomed to. Still managed to play a part in the first goal.
Pascal Gross – 7.27
Really good in possession, keeping the ball moving and doing a disciplined job which allowed Billy Gilmour to shine. All eyes will now be on whether he makes his long-deserved debut for Germany in the international break.
Billy Gilmour – 8.87
Oh the irony of Chelsea buying Moises Caicedo for £115 million and Brighton seamlessly replacing him with a midfielder purchased from the Blues one year earlier for just £9 million. It was Gilmour’s shot which Nick Pope spilled to give Ferguson his first goal and the Scottish international then played the pass through the middle for the second.
Solly March – 7.33
Kaoru Mitoma was busier down the other flank, but March still managed a couple of runs down the right side which asked questions of the Newcastle defence.
Joao Pedro – 7.53
Good on the ball and difficult to stop thanks to his unpredictability. Needs to work on his decision making and final pass though, similar to Julio Enciso before April. A few months working with Roberto De Zerbi is sure to improve Pedro in that regard.
Kaoru Mitoma – 7.40
His weaving run and one-on-one effort saved by Pope was part of the series of events leading to the opening goal. Kieran Trippier will not face many 90 minutes as difficult as the one Mitoma gave him.
EVAN FERGUSON – 9.47
The first ever Brighton player to score a home top flight hat-trick – Peter Ward, Gordon Smith and Leandro Trossard all notched trebles in away games. Ferguson’s finishing was sublime, as was his work rate and link up. Just a joy to watch.
Tariq Lamptey – 7.13
Fantastic to see Lamptey back after nearly six months on the side lines. As exciting as ever down the right, his challenge now is to try and stay fit.
Mahmoud Dahoud – 6.80
Used the ball nicely when he came on as Brighton saw out the three points.
Adam Lallana – 6.67
His introduction alongside Milner must have been the oldest combined substitution in Brighton history.
James Milner – 6.60
His introduction alongside Lallana must have been the oldest combined substitution in Brighton history.
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.
