Forest 3-1 Brighton: Bright spot Buonanotte tops ratings
In amongst all the doom and gloom following Brighton losing 3-1 at Nottingham Forest, the player ratings serve as a reminder that there was at least one positive to come out of defeat at the City Ground.
Facundo Buonanotte made his full Premier League debut and marked the occasion with a goal, leaving the rest of the Premier League to ponder just how the Albion have plucked another talented young South American seemingly out of nowhere.
Buonanotte was the only Brighton player to score over six in the ratings. Most of his teammates looked to have tired legs, tired minds or a combination of both by the full time whistle as a decent start and a 38th minute lead transitioned into zero points.
Such very obvious levels of fatigue should hardly come as a surprise. Just 72 hours earlier and the Albion were completing 120 gruelling FA Cup semi final minutes followed by the cruellest of penalty shootout defeats.
Excuses can therefore be made for these low scoring Forest 3-1 Brighton ratings. What is important is how the Albion bounce back against Wolves on Saturday.
Jason Steele – 5.82
If I speak, I am in big trouble. Having seen Robert Sanchez concede seven Manchester United penalties out of seven on Sunday, Steele denied Brennan Johnson from 12 yards with Forest 3-1 Brighton just 10 minutes old on his way to being the third highest scorer in the player ratings.
Pascal Gross – 4.73
The own goal which drew Forest level on the stroke of half time was unfortunate. But when Gross is giving the ball away as frequently as he did, you know it is going to be one of those evenings.
Lewis Dunk – 4.36
Quite why he jumped into the air with his arms above his head when defending a late Forest corner is a mystery. The resulting penalty fired home by Morgan Gibbs-White represented Forest’s third goal and confirmed defeat.
Levi Colwill – 3.91
Did not feature at Wembley so could not be excused his poor performance against Forest on the basis of tiredness. Danilo breezed past him too easily for the second and was very lucky Johnson shot just over the bar after gifting him possession.
Pervis Estupinan – 3.91
The fact Estupinan was substituted in the second half with Solly March moving to left back tells you he was poor. Gave away the first penalty when dallying on the ball, getting tackled and then clumsily tripping Neco Williams in an attempt to rectify the situation.
Alexis Mac Allister – 5.55
Was his usual tidy self in midfield but lacked support from Moises Caicedo alongside him. One of the few who seemed to possess the energy to keep covering the ground DeZerbiBall demands.
Moises Caicedo – 4.91
A very rare off night for Caicedo, summed up by him being dispossessed in the build up to Forest scoring their second. Hardly a surprise as he was superb in every minute of the 120 at Wembley.
Solly March – 5.27
Bounced back from that penalty miss against United by claiming the assist for Buonanotte’s goal with a shot spilled by Kaylor Navas straight to the feet of the Argentinian teenager. Fashioned a couple of other good chances when Brighton were able to get him on the ball, which was not nearly enough.
FACUNDO BUONANOTTE – 6.45
Showed great awareness and intelligence to follow up when March shot, leaving him in the right place at the right time to tap home the rebound. The second half saw him play in Kaoru Mitoma for a good one-on-one opportunity. Will have a role to play over the next eight games based on his performance against Forest.
Kaoru Mitoma – 4.55
Lively at the start, including when speeding from halfway past two Forest defenders to reach the by-line and fashion a chance for Julio Enciso. Faded in the second half after shooting wide of the post with only Navas to beat when the scores were locked at 1-1.
Julio Enciso – 5.91
Asked to lead the line as a false nine, an unfamiliar role for a player who has spent most of his fledgling career so far either on the left or as a number 10. Made a decent first of it and would have got his name on the scoresheet were it not for an outrageous one handed saved from Navas.
Danny Welbeck – 4.09
Brighton needed him to be a focal point up top when he came on in the second half so that the ball might stick rather than the constant turning over of possession. Never managed to get into the game enough to offer anything.
Deniz Undav – 3.91
Had the ball in the net late in injury time, only for his header to be ruled out for offside. Quite telling that with Evan Ferguson injured and Welbeck unable to cope with two games in a week, he remained on the bench with Enciso preferred as a false nine.
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.
