Man United 2-0 Brighton: Magic Moder tops ratings even if he can’t score
What is it going to take for Jakub Moder to score a Premier League goal? The Polish midfielder did everything but put the ball in the back of the net on his way to topping the player ratings as Brighton suffered an underserved 2-0 loss at Man United.
Two good chances came and went for Moder at Old Trafford. The first saw David De Gea pull off an absolutely unbelievable save from a powerful header that would have past almost any other goalkeeper in the world.
The second was a looping effort from 30 yards which had De Gea beaten at full stretch but not the frame of the goal, the ball dropping onto the crossbar and away to the relief of United.
We are now approaching the point where people are beginning to wonder if Moder is genuinely cursed. What else can explain his wretched his luck in front of goal?
Or perhaps it is best he does not start scoring anytime soon. Once the goals flow, then the rest of European football will sit up and take notice, leading to the owners of some of the biggest clubs in Europe flocking to the Amex in their Skodas with offers for Moder.
Plenty of Albion players also shone at Old Trafford for most of the 90 minutes, bar that catastrophic opening to the second half when United took the lead and Lewis Dunk saw red.
Here are your full Man United 2-0 Brighton player ratings.
Robert Sanchez – 6.88
Some big second half saves, most notably when tipping a Cristiano Ronaldo header over the bar. Got caught pratting around with the ball at his feet again at one point, only to redeem himself with an excellent stop as Bruno Fernandes looked set to punish the error.
Joel Veltman – 7.63
Topped the player ratings at Watford on Saturday as part of the back three and finished second behind Moder after spending Man United 2-0 Brighton as a more orthodox right back. Dependable no matter what role he is deployed in.
Adam Webster – 6.25
Gave Ronaldo far too much room when the legendary striker strode towards the Albion goal before beating Sanchez from outside the box. Other than that and one sloppy moment when he gave the ball away, he was steady enough.
Lewis Dunk – 5.25
Did not deserve to be sent off but at the same time, it was a poor touch and then a questionable decision to pull down Anthony Elanga that gave referee Peter Bankes enough of an excuse to bring out the red. A disappointing display from the captain.
Marc Cucurella – 7.25
A fine piece of defending saw him do what Dunk failed at in legally halting Elanga. Caused United plenty of problems on his frequent forays forward.
Yves Bissouma – 5.50
To the naked eye, it looked like Bissouma had a poor performance summed up by him giving the ball away to United in the build up for opener. Yet Albion Analytics tweeted his numbers at full time and he led the way in almost every important metric for a defensive midfielder. A strange evening.
Pascal Gross – 7.00
Involved in the build up to most of Brighton’s good opportunities in the first half before being sacrificed as part of the tactical reshuffle needed after Dunk’s dismissal. Somebody on Instagram posted at full time that they hope to never see Gross in an Albion shirt again, which as far as bollocks comments go has to be up there seeing as he was one of the better Albion performers on the night.
Alexis Mac Allister – 6.38
A rather different display to the dynamic, attacking force he had been before the winter break as he found himself doing more defensive work. Perhaps that explains the harsh rating.
JAKUB MODER – 7.75
Posed a constant threat to United all evening. It is absolutely mind blowing that Brighton paid less for his services than Prince Andrew has done to a woman he has never met for a crime he did not commit.
Leandro Trossard – 5.88
One of his quietest games of the season in his first start since returning from Covid-19. Spent most of the evening too far away from Neal Maupay and that did neither of the Albion’s two forwards any favours.
Neal Maupay – 5.88
Well marshalled by Harry Maguire, making this a rare match when he did not have at least one decent sight of goal. Was particularly isolated in the first half but kept working hard.
Tariq Lamptey – 6.50
Manchester United fans were only treated to seeing 40 minutes from a player their club is said to be lining up a summer bid for. Mustered a few threatening runs and hung up the cross right at the death which Danny Welbeck should have at least headed on target.
Steve Alzate – 6.13
Introduced to bolster the midfield. Was a little loose in possession at times, although this was made up for by his work off the ball.
Danny Welbeck – 5.63
His finishing ability and his scoring record against former clubs – no other ex-United player has returned to Old Trafford and bagged goals on three separate occasions – meant that he was the man you wanted on the end of that Lamptey cross in the last minute. It was a horrible, uncharacteristic miss which overshadowed most of the good stuff he did once introduced.
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.
