Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton: 30 seconds takes Maupay top of ratings
It is amazing what a scarcely deserved last minute equaliser against your arch rivals can do. 30 seconds work in the 95th minute of Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton was enough to send Neal Maupay to the top of the WAB Player Ratings at Selhurst Park.
A lot of the scores submitted admitted as much. Following Maupay’s name, the most common message was something along the lines of: “8…would have been a 6 before the goal.” And the ensuing triggering of Wilfried Zaha and 20,000 Palace fans, no doubt.
Not that anyone is complaining. Maupay would deserve top spot for his post-match comments alone. Le Petite Francais Shithouse told Sky Sports: “When I scored, I looked at Zaha and smiled at him because when he scored his penalty he celebrated and he gave some to our fans.”
“I won’t say what he said and what I said but you know how it is on the pitch with players sometimes. You give banter on the pitch sometimes and it was the perfect time to give him something.”
As for the rest of the Albion team, this was by no means a classic performance. In fact, it was probably their worst of the season.
That was reflected in wildly differing ratings. Some fans scored 4s and 5s based on the game as a whole. Others went 8s and 9s, presumably out of sheer relief and joy that the Seagulls had somehow found a way to steal a point.
Here are your player ratings for Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton.
Robert Sanchez – 7.08
Not called into making many saves despite Palace’s dominance. His main contribution was his pinpoint distribution which sent Danny Welbeck scampering clear of the home defence and created a couple of other chances going forwards. Seeing his normally ice cool demeanour go out the window as he celebrated the Maupay goal, got booked after final whistle and then goaded the Holmesdale End as he walked off was one of the highlights of the evening.
Shane Duffy – 6.62
Passing was a bit loose but it clearly helped having him up against Odsonne Edouard, a player he knows well having spent last season at Celtic alongside him. Defended stoutly, especially in the first 20 minutes when the Albion struggled to get out of their half.
Lewis Dunk – 6.62
Received his customary warm welcome from the Selhurst Park faithful. Dealt with it by being completely unflustered, displaying excellent leadership and with a couple of this calm and collected headers back to Sanchez.
Dan Burn – 6.08
Brighton being overrun in midfield during the first half meant that he was sacrificed at the break as Graham Potter switched to a back four. He had done alright before that with one particularly important piece of covering coming when he spotted a gap between Duffy and Dunk and galloped from left to right to cut out what might have otherwise been a dangerous through ball.
Joel Veltman – 6.92
Second best to Maupay in the Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton player ratings and that is the least he deserved. Defensively, he kept Zaha very quiet. Attacking wise, it was his beautiful return of Vicente Guaita’s poor free kick over the top of the Eagles defence which put in Maupay for the equaliser.
Pascal Gross – 5.31
A central midfield partnership of Gross and Adam Lallana outnumbered by a Palace three which included the outstanding Conor Gallagher explains why Brighton failed to get a foothold during the opening 45 minutes. The German playmaker was a little better after the break once Steve Alzate and then Jakub Moder sat behind, but this was still not his best game.
Adam Lallana – 6.08
His intelligence and leadership played an important role in ensuring that Brighton were not too far out of the game to launch their last minute comeback. Struggled when it came to the actual football though, which just goes to show how much this Brighton side rely on Yves Bissouma.
Marc Cucurella – 7.00
Responsible for some important bits defensively and troubled Palace on the rare occasions when he was able to rampage forward. Got away with one when his poor touch ended in him wiping out an Eagles player on the break, Andre Marriner waved advantage and Jordan Ayew somehow put the resulting shot wide of the post with only Sanchez to beat.
Leandro Trossard – 6.08
The penalty conceded with seconds of the first half remaining was the definition of a forward’s tackle – clumsy, unnecessary and one you do not want to see being made anywhere near the penalty area. He looked determined to make up for it in the second half, dancing around Palace with the ball at his feet in a desperate attempt to make something happen.
Danny Welbeck – 5.69
Felt that he should have had a penalty when Joel Ward attempted a tackle as Dat Guy galloped onto a long kick from Sanchez. Caused some problems running at the Palace defence before his evening came to an early end with a hamstring problem. Potter said he would be assessed before Arsenal but given that the same injury ruled him out for the best part of six weeks between July and August, we probably will not be seeing him anytime soon.
NEAL MAUPAY – 7.92
A solid yet unspectacular shift for 94 minutes and 30 seconds. Then Guaita shanked a free kick, Veltman sent the ball forward and Maupay read it perfectly to produce a clinical lobbed finish back over the flummoxed Palace goalkeeper to spark wild scenes of celebration. The sort of chance he would have missed last season.
Steve Alzate – 4.85
Not a great evening for the midfielder. He was sloppy in possession when he came on and then ended up rolling his ankle under pressure from Ayew, limping off only 20 minutes after replacing Burn. It looked a nasty injury too.
Jakub Moder – 6.00
That Alzate was the man Potter opted to bring on at the break was strange as most Brighton fans could see the Albion were crying out for the dynamism that Moder brings. He was instantly into the action once introduced, breaking forward to fizz two low crosses into the box which nobody in hyper-turq could get on the end of.
Aaron Connolly – 5.38
Replaced Welbeck in the closing stages fresh from scoring twice in the 2-0 Carabao Cup win over Swansea City. Did not see much of the ball but seemed to enjoy the shenanigans at the final whistle.
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.
