Burnley 1-1 Brighton: Solid Sanchez surges to top spot in player ratings
There were no surprises at the top of the player ratings for Brighton & Hove Albion in their 1-1 draw with Burnley as Robert Sanchez finished over 0.5 points clear of his nearest rival.
The goalkeeper made a series of excellent stops over the course of 90 minutes and relieved a lot of pressure on the defence by eating for breakfast every aerial ball Burnley pumped into his box.
It was a point-earning display from Sanchez, which was just as well as the Albion looked tired and were nowhere near their flowing best. That did not come as a surprise to anyone after the exertions of the past six days when both Spurs and Liverpool have been beaten.
Avoiding defeat when not playing well is the sign of a good team. To show such fight and battle to dig in at a difficult place like Turf Moor was in its own way a result nearly as impressive as those victories against the big six which preceded the trip to Lancashire.
Here is how workmanlike Albion scored in our Burnley 1-1 Brighton player ratings.
ROBERT SANCHEZ – 8.39
This was some performance from Big Bob. Made three or four saves out of the top drawer, put himself at risk when diving bravely at the feet of Ashley Barnes who as we well know has no qualms with kicking a goalkeeper, and stood firm in the face of a bombardment of crosses into his box. Might have done better with the goal as he parried a Barnes shot back into the danger zone ala Wayne Henderson, but he was rightly let off as without him this would have been a two or three goal defeat.
Ben White – 7.00
You could tell how tired Brighton were as neither White nor Adam Webster attempted many of their trademark charges out of defence. One second half block to deny Barnes was crucial. Had a spell in midfield when Potter changed shape in an attempt to halt Burnley’s dominance but he could make little difference and was soon moved back into the back line after Webster limped off.
Lewis Dunk – 7.83
The captain was the second highest scoring Brighton player in the ratings for the 1-1 draw at Burnley. His towering header from a pinpoint Pascal Gross corner to give the Albion the lead was perfectly placed out of reach of Nick Pope and a home defender on the post and he did well standing up to the physical test posed by Barnes and Matěj Vydra.
Adam Webster – 6.89
What is it with any Brighton player who hits a bit of form picking up an injury just as they start playing well? Webster exited proceedings with 15 minutes remaining having shepherded Vydra reasonably well.
Joel Veltman – 6.89
Gave Erik Pieters plenty to think about in the first half, including one moment of skill when he knocked the ball around the onrushing Burnley left back to leave Pieters in a different postcode. Helped man the trenches in the second half at right back after Potter’s switch to a back four.
Yves Bissouma – 6.56
One of his quietest games of the season, partly explaining why Burnley were so dominant in midfield after the break. Not really shock as he most of been feeling the effects of covering every blade of grass against Liverpool and Spurs.
Pascal Gross – 6.39
Burnley being so on top meant that he struggled to impose himself on the game quite as much as he has in recent weeks. Still managed to claim another assist with a beautiful out-swinging corner planted straight onto the head of Dunk. Might have done better with a powerful free kick from a good position which posed more of a threat to the corner flag than Pope’s goal.
Dan Burn – 6.22
With Solly March ruled out for up to 12 weeks with a knee injury, Big Dan Burn has the chance to make the left wing back spot his own. Did not really take the opportunity, although it must be said he had his work cut out as both Matt Lowton and Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson were excellent down that flank for Burnley.
Alexis Mac Allister – 6.22
Brighton’s inability to get a foothold in midfield meant that they never really managed to get the Argentinian on the ball. He took a nasty elbow to the face in an incident which somehow went unpunished.
Aaron Connolly – 5.83
The lowest scoring player in the starting XI. That seemed a little harsh as he had Brighton’s only shot on target other than the goal when drawing a fine save from Pope. Every time he got on the ball he sought Ben Mee to run at, a sensible tactic given Mee’s early yellow card for GBH on Neal Maupay.
Neal Maupay – 5.94
Struggled to get into the game, bar his first half charge at the Burnley defence which was halted by that appalling Mee tackle. Might have done better with a glancing first half header.
Danny Welbeck – 5.44
Returned from injury with a half-hour run out when Potter changed up his attack with a double substitution. Brighton were a non-entity from an attacking point of view whilst he was on the pitch so it was hardly a surprise he struggled to make any impression.
Leandro Trossard – 6.00
Entered the fray at the same time as Welbeck and like Dat Guy, he too barely saw the ball. On the rare occasions he did receive possession, he tried to pick up where Connolly had left off by getting at Mee.
Adam Lallana – 6.39
Not a bad afternoon’s work as the former Liverpool man secured the seventh highest rating despite only being on the pitch for 15 minutes. He helped the Albion keep the ball a little better thanks to the control he always brings to the party and that made Burnley less of a threat in the closing stages.
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.
