Brighton 5-2 Leicester: Marvellous Mac Allister tops ratings
Alexis Mac Allister. What a player. The Argentine midfielder scored the highest WAB Player Ratings score of the 2022-23 season so far for his marvellous performance as Brighton hammered Leicester City 5-2 at the Amex.
Mac Allister scored two of the goals himself. He had a huge part to play in the build up to another. And without a terrible VAR decision ruling out a thunderbastard volley from 25 yards, he would have become the first Albion player to score a Premier League hat-trick.
That Mac Allister was in such sparkling form was just as well because the Brighton defence had an unusual off-day. Before Sunday afternoon, Aleksandar Mitrovic had been the only opposition player to breach the Albion backline in five Premier League matches.
Against Leicester, the Seagulls contrived to gift the Foxes two goals in the space of 45 minutes. The scores were locked at 2-2 going into half time; the feeling on the concourses was that it could finish 12-12.
Brighton though blew their opponents away with a scintillating second half display, led by the irresistible Mac Allister. He finished 1.12 points clear of his nearest rivals, Pascal Gross and Moises Caicedo.
Here are your Brighton 5-2 Leicester Player Ratings.
Robert Sanchez – 6.92
Not much he could do about the two goals as his defence left him terribly exposed. Other than picking the ball out of the net, he made a smart stop from Harvey Barnes at 2-2.
Joel Veltman – 7.72
Won the ball back in the build up to the Albion’s third goal. The panic amongst the Brighton defence in that opening 30 minutes or so must have been bad as it even impacted upon the dependable Dutchman, who looked less dependable than normal.
Lewis Dunk – 6.68
Should have done better in preventing the cross which led to the first Leicester goal. His decision to try and produce an acrobatic overhead kick from Youri Tielemans’ long ball over the top was interesting to say the least, presenting Paston Daka with a free run at goal for the second.
Adam Webster – 6.44
Dunk would not have looked so silly trying that attempted clearance in the build up to the second goal if Webster had not given the ball away in the first place. Not a great first half for the Albion defence.
Solly March – 7.12
It looked to those inside the Amex that he had finally scored a goal with his header after eight minutes. Replays however showed that it was undoubtedly an own goal. Still, it appeared to give him a real confidence boost and he was a lively presence down the right from that point onwards.
Moises Caicedo – 8.44
Covered every blade of grass in an all-action midfield display. The comparisons with Yves Bissouma will keep coming. Bissouma though rarely got into positions to score, unlike Caicedo who now has two goals from 19 Premier League appearances thanks to his first half strike. His potential remains scary.
Alexis Mac Allister – 9.56
Wow. His industry and determination in midfield was crucial in setting up Leandro Trossard’s goal. His free kick from distance was utterly spectacular. The disallowed volley would have been one of the goals of the season had it been allowed to stand. And he even appears to have broken the Albion penalty taking curse, having now despatched three successful spot kicks in a row.
Pascal Gross – 8.44
It seemed Gross’ contribution had gone under the radar in the immediate aftermath of Brighton 5-2 Leicester as nobody was really talking about him, so to see him joint-second with Caicedo in the player ratings is pleasing. Another assist for the stats as it was his pass which released Trossard. He swept some beautiful crosses into the box and glided around the pitch effortlessly.
Leandro Trossard – 8.12
Having been pretty anonymous in the 2-1 defeat at Fulham when deployed as a false nine, Graham Potter switched him back to the left. The result was his second goal of the season, the cross which March used to force the own goal and he won the penalty converted by Mac Allister. Please keep him at left wing back, Graham. It just works.
Enock Mwepu – 8.00
A few eyebrows were raised at Mwepu keeping his place in the team after a poor show at Craven Cottage. Like Trossard though, he was another who benefited from a change in position. Number 10 is clearly his best role rather than being asked to do a job up front. His strong, driving run 40 yards up the pitch before slipping in Caicedo for the second Albion goal was a reminder of his qualities.
Danny Welbeck – 8.00
Welbz is Dat Guy. Still waiting to open his account for the season but he is about so much more than goals. Stretched the Leicester defence and brought others into play with some clever target man work. He is a major reason why the Albion have started this season so strongly.
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.
