Chelsea 1-2 Brighton: Caciedo and Enciso share ratings top billing
There is something rather apt about the two players who topped the WAB ratings in Chelsea 1-2 Brighton having been bought by the Albion for a mere £15 million combined.
Brighton paid £4.5 million for Moises Caicedo in January 2021. Chelsea could buy 19 Caicedos with the £88.5 million they spent on Mykhailo Mudryk.
Julio Enciso cost £10 million last summer. Chelsea could buy 10 Encisos with the £106.8 million they spent on Enzo Fernandez.
Whilst Todd Bohely believes the way to success is through chucking as much money as is humanly possible to assemble the most expensive squad in football history, Brighton quietly find young talent from across the world and give them the opportunity to shine.
The result is an Albion team playing for each other, capable of being completely dominant at Stamford Bridge, once one of the toughest places to go in European football.
Brighton enjoyed 57 percent possession, took 26 shots and put 10 of those on target. Had Kepa Arrizabalaga not been in such inspired form, it could have been a massacre.
Chelsea on the other hand looked very much like a bunch of expensive individuals who had been purchased for an eye watering £499.3 million. There was no cohesion, no plan and no idea how to cope with Enciso, Caicedo and co. And it was fantastic to watch.
Here are your Chelsea 1-2 Brighton player ratings as for the second time this season, Boehly and his Blues were humiliated at the hands of the Albion.
Robert Sanchez – 7.42
Took over from the injured Jason Man of Steele and his return to the side went rather well. A really good double save from Reece James and Mudryk was the highlight but his passing out from the back was as good as it has been. Something he has clearly worked on since being demoted to number two.
Joel Veltman – 6.42
Mudryk has been much maligned since Chelsea paid that vastly overly inflated fee to Shakhtar Donetsk for him, but he gave Veltman a bit of a test here. That led to an early booking for a shove from the Dutch defender, who departed injured before the 30 minute mark.
Adam Webster – 7.08
Back in the starting XI with Levi Colwill unable to feature against his parent club. It was an assured return with some decent defensive moments mixed in with calmness in possession.
Lewis Dunk – 8.25
As a boyhood Chelsea fan, it must have been Dunk’s dream growing up to score at Stamford Bridge. A heavy deflection off Conor Gallagher’s shot was not quite enough to give him an own goal. Joking aside, there was little the Brighton captain could do about that and he was otherwise a rock at the back with second half challenge preventing the Blues scoring a second.
Pervis Estupinan – 8.00
Made one of his expertly timed goal-saving tackles when the lively Gallagher was bearing down on Sanchez. Remained a live attacking threat throughout. Chelsea fans must have been left scratching their heads as to how their club paid £62 million for Marc Cucurella and the Albion went out and signed an upgrade for a mere £15 million.
Pascal Gross – 8.17
The talent and versatility of Der Kaiser knows no bounds. Moved to right back after Veltman departed, where he quietened Mudryk. It was from his new role that Gross provided the assist for Danny Welbeck’s equaliser, flighting over a teasing cross to the back post.
MOISES CAICEDO – 9.00
90 minutes that showed Chelsea first hand what a piss take their £55 million January offer for his services was. The dominant force in midfield thanks to his incredible ability to regain possession and get Brighton on the front foot.
Solly March – 8.08
Came to the fore in the second half. The quality of Enciso’s strike for the winning goal has quite rightly taken all the attention, but he would never have been in the position to score from 30 yards without March gliding inside from the right and finding the teenager.
Alexis Mac Allister – 7.92
Drilled a low effort just wide early in the first half when operating at number 10. Gross taking over at right back from Veltman meant Mac Allister moving alongside Caicedo, where he gave a very clever display late on to help the Albion see out the game.
Kaoru Mitoma – 8.25
Chelsea had no answer to him. There were several occasions when he ghosted past three or four blues shirts as if they were not there. One instance saw him carry the ball 40 yards from the left wing into the Blues box, only to be denied by a brilliant one-handed Kepa save.
Evan Ferguson – 7.83
Hit the bar with a cracking effort from the edge of the area and then produced a towering header which required Kepa to go full stretch in his best save of the afternoon. Landed awkwardly on his ankle from that, necessitating his replacement with Danny Welbeck and is now a serious doubt for Sunday’s FA Cup semi final against Manchester United.
JULIO ENCISO – 9.00
His goal at Plucky Little Bournemouth earlier in April announced his arrival in English football but this felt like A Star is Born moment. The winner was world class but he had already hit the post and forced Kepa into another smart intervention before that. His strength and decision making is a million miles better than it was even a few months ago. Chelsea 1-2 Brighton was the first time he has topped the player ratings and it will not be the last.
Danny Welbeck – 8.25
For the second season running at Stamford Bridge, he scored an equaliser within 10 minutes of coming off the bench. It was a superb header requiring a huge leap. His all round play in terms of holding the ball up and brining others in was exemplary.
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.
