Brighton 6-0 Wolves: Gilmour and Gross masterclass tops ratings
There were so many good individual performances in Brighton 6-0 Wolves to pick through but central to it all – and reflected in the player ratings – were Pascal Gross and Billy Gilmour giving a midfield masterclass.
No Albion fan needs an introduction to the quality of Gross. There is a reason Roberto De Zerbi has hailed Der Kaiser as one of the best players he has ever managed, whilst the two goals Brighton’s number 13 struck past the Old Gold leave him on the verge of overtaking Glenn Murray and Neal Maupay as the Seagulls’ second highest top flight scorer, behind only Michael Robinson.
Gilmour’s performance was more of a surprise. He has been afforded precious little game time since signing from Chelsea for £9 million in the summer, largely because Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister are ahead of him in the pecking order.
It was a bold call for De Zerbi to rest both his holding midfielders for the same game but one richly vindicated by Gilmour putting in a superb performance alongside Gross.
Brighton fans can sleep a little easier now ahead of the near-certain summer departure of one of Mac Allister or Caciedo, knowing Gilmour can put on a show as he did against Wolves.
We could wax lyrical about Gross and Gilmour for many hours, but that would do a disservice to everyone else in blue and white who helped the Albion to their biggest ever top flight win. Here are your player ratings from Brighton 6-0 Wolves.
Jason Steele – 7.92
Normally when a team wins 6-0, the goalkeeper is completely unemployed. Not so Steele, who had to make an important reaction save in the first half and then bail Lewis Dunk out by pushing an effort around the post after the Brighton captain bizarrely ducked out the way.
Joel Veltman – 7.42
Had no bother defensively which meant he could have had a lot of license to get forward. Never really took it though, which suggested he was still carefully managing the injury picked up at Chelsea a fortnight earlier. This theory was backed up when he limped off in the second half in visible pain.
Adam Webster – 7.83
A couple of shaky moments, one at either end of the game. Two outstanding blocks per half more than made up for that and he has surely now put himself back above Levi Colwill in the pecking order.
Lewis Dunk – 8.08
Diego Costa may no longer be the force of old but Dunk still deserves an enormous amount of credit for making him totally anonymous. Made a vital block from a Neto shot and with Brighton leading handsomely when he dived to the ground rather than heading clear in the second half, everyone could have a right good laugh.
Pervis Estupinan – 7.75
Underline his swashbuckling style by charging forward from left back to go one-on-one with Jose Sa on two occasions in the second half. Failed to score from either but he did get the assist with a pinpoint cross onto the head of Danny Welbeck for the Albion’s fourth.
PASCAL GROSS – 9.25
Put himself into the perfect position to strike a clinical finish for his first goal of the afternoon. That his second on the volley after teeing himself up was met with the gasps of 30,000 people rather than cheers tells you everything about the quality of the strike. Almost completed a hat-trick late on despite his redeployment at right back after Veltman was forced off.
BILLY GILMOUR – 9.25
De Zerbi said afterwards he had maybe made a mistake in not giving Gilmour more game time this season. That seemed a harsh assessment as few midfielders in the world could usurp Mac Allister and Caicedo with the form they have been in. Still, topping the ratings in Brighton 6-0 Wolves feels like a breakthrough moment and suggests Gilmour has a big future at the Amex once a space opens up in the starting XI.
Solly March – 6.92
March can be in no doubt that no Brighton fan blames him for what happened at Wembley following the rousing reception he received during the game and when he was substituted. Not at his best and he looked a little tired which is understandable as he has started every Premier League game this season.
Danny Welbeck – 8.50
Welbeck and Undav seemed to rotate who was playing as a number 10 throughout. Dat Guy thrived in the deeper position, spreading the play and helping young Julio Enciso through the game in particular. Two fine goals were the icing on the cake, although he perhaps should have had a hat-trick.
Julio Enciso – 8.67
His last three appearances have now come as a number 10, a false nine and out on the left. This was the best of the lot and he was involved in goals two, three, four and five. There was one moment where Welbeck berated Enciso for going for goal when a simple pass was on, followed minutes later by Enciso playing a perfect simple pass for Gross to score.
Deniz Undav – 8.50
Has badly needed to get the monkey of his first Premier League goal off his back. A simple tap in did that and it was followed an hour later with a spectacular finish from the angle consisting off just the right amount of dip and backspin to loop over Sa, drop under the bar and cross the line.
Kaoru Mitoma – 7.33
Imagine being a defender in a side already trailing 5-0 and then seeing Mitoma about to come on. De Zerbi is a ruthless bastard. The Japanese Bullet Train gained possession for the sixth goal and went onto glide past Wolves players with ease, although the opportunities came to nothing with the game long over.
Alexis Mac Allister – 6.92
His presence was hardly needed and you kind of got the impression he knew that. Kept possession moving but he was never trying at anything more than 60 percent – no bad thing with Manchester United to come on Thursday.
Moises Caicedo – 7.00
Sat in front of the back four and was his normal dynamic self. There was one moment where he received the ball on the Albion penalty spot under pressure from two Wolves players and simply drag backed his way between them to advance forward.
Facundo Buonanotte – 7.00
Replaced March on the right. Although not exactly his natural position, he made a very good fist of it and will surely have bigger parts to play over the remaining seven games.
Yasin Ayari – 6.67
Took over from Undav in the final 10, which was not really enough time to make too much of an impression.
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.
