Leeds 2-2 Brighton: Dunk tops ratings as Albion’s rock at the back
The Leeds United 2-2 Brighton was a strange afternoon of football reflected in a peculiar set of player ratings.
Brighton were magnificent in parts, missed a hatful of chances and suffered a couple of wobbles to let the 1996 Coca Cola Cup runners up back into the game.
“Adam Webster was a 7 in the first half and a 3 in the second” is the sort of comment which sums things up. Plenty of players did good things followed by bad things, explaining why the Albion had to settle for just a point from Elland Road.
In games like these when chaos and confusion breaks out at frequent intervals, there is one Albion player you always can rely on to not be impacted by what is going on round him – Lewis Dunk.
Dunk was superb at the heart of the Brighton defence, a calming presence required to make some very important interventions without which the Seagulls could have found themselves losing a game they should have won.
It is rare that Dunk tops the player ratings, so accustomed to his excellence have we all become to take it for granted – to see him scoring head and shoulders above anyone else in Leeds 2-2 Brighton is well deserved.
As for the rest, here they are…
Jason Steele – 6.17
Made one superb save in the second half plunging to his right to tip a low shot around the post. Some Brighton fans felt he could have done better with the second goal. Not only does that seem a little harsh, but it also suggests we could be in for a long and tedious debate between Steele fans and Robert Sanchez fans as to who should be playing.
Joel Veltman – 6.17
Webster was the example we went for in the opening paragraphs of players who mixed playing well with hairy moments. Veltman falls into that category too with a generally assured showing either side of losing possession to Leeds ahead of their opening goal.
Adam Webster – 5.50
Played a superb long ball over the top for Pascal Gross in the build up to the first Brighton goal. Made one incredible tackle to recover his own horrific mistake in the second half. And then walked off clutching his hamstring. With Match of the Day needing content filler due to their pundits shortage, they could have done a lot worse than sticking a camera following Webster around.
LEWIS DUNK – 8.17
Produced one of his typically calm pieces of defending to return the ball to his goalkeeper under pressure. That was eclipsed by a timely intervention when he found himself last man as Leeds countered with an overload.
Pervis Estupinan – 7.17
Plenty of intent to get forward but this was a rare occasion when his final product let him down. Still managed to play a part in the second Albion goal.
Pascal Gross – 7.33
His role in the Alexis Mac Allister goal was poetry in motion with that double Gross Turn and perfect cross hung up towards the back post for Mitoma to return into the box. Rarely wasted a pass and got into some really good positions.
Moises Caicedo – 7.67
Said after the West Ham win that he wants to reach the Champions League with Brighton and his performances since the January transfer saga have certainly been top four worthy. Covered a lot of ground, constantly broke up Leeds attacks when the hosts enjoyed their best spells and always picked the right pass to finish second behind Dunk in the Leeds 2-2 Brighton player ratings.
Solly March – 7.50
It is a crime Jack Harrison gets an own goal against his name rather than the second going to March. Did lots of other good things down the right – including drawing the save of the game from Illan Meslier with a difficult volley from outside the box. It was a lively showing ahead of Gareth Southgate announcing his England squad for the March internationals.
Alexis Mac Allister – 7.00
A clinical, powerful header from inside the six yard box gave Brighton the lead and Mac Allister his ninth of the season. That is a decent return, but at the same time he should have two or three more at least. Case in point – the shot skewed massively wide when a pass found him unmarked 12 yards out.
Kaoru Mitoma – 7.17
Mitoma is now known across the Premier League for his dribbling ability. That directly led to the Albion’s second goal. He deserves credit also for how good he is in the air, evidenced by the clever header back into the box of Gross’ cross which gave Mac Allister the chance to score.
Evan Ferguson – 6.50
An 18-year-old striker playing regularly at Premier League level is going to be inconsistent. One of his quietest games so far, but nobody will mind if it means he has saved a goal or two for Crystal Palace on Wednesday night.
Danny Welbeck – 6.33
Leeds fans gave him a warm welcome and that seemed to rile him up into causing the Peacocks defence a fair few problems. Blasted one chance wastefully wide and saw Meslier produce a really good bit of goalkeeper to nudge the ball away when a one-on-one developed.
