Manchester City 1-0 Brighton: Percy Tau tops Albion ratings on full debut
In the name of Percy Tau, amen! The Lion of Judah marked his Premier League debut by topping the WAB player ratings for his performance in Brighton & Hove Albion’s 1-0 defeat at Manchester City.
It was a good night for Tau and the Seagulls in general. The South African superstar showcased his pace, directness and creativity against a City back line who had conceded only three goals in their previous 13 matches.
When Tau comes up against lesser defences who have not cost the GDP of a large Asian country to put together, then it is frightening the sort of damage he could wreak – providing of course that Graham Potter continues to allow him to play in such a bold manner which does not involve making constant sideways passes.
Away from Tau, Brighton gave one of their best overall performances of the campaign. That is reflected in the fact that for the first time since the 2-1 win against Aston Villa in November, nobody in the starting line up scored less than six in the ratings.
Two players who have found first team opportunities hard to came by were second and third behind Tau, Alexis Mac Allister and Bernardo’s performances at the Etihad Stadium serving as a reminder that this Brighton squad has more strength in depth than people give it credit for.
Here are the player ratings for a lively Albion performance in Manchester City 1-0 Brighton.
Robert Sanchez – 7.22
Inexplicably picked up a back pass from Adam Webster which could have proved costly and then got his angles wrong, allowing Phil Foden to score at his neat post for the only goal of the game. He made up for those errors though with a string of superb saves in a performance that served as a reminder that Brighton have a very talented but still raw goalkeeper on their hands.
Adam Webster – 6.83
Brighton’s best centre back on the night as his recent good form continues. His only hairy moment came when he let Ilkay Gundogan escape at the back post in the first half. His defending ability at Premier League level is now starting to match his ball playing talent. Long may it continue.
Lewis Dunk – 6.70
As solid as Webster right up until the last minute when his woeful attempted back header to Sanchez was nowhere near the goalkeeper, resulting in Brighton conceding a penalty which Raheem Sterling thankfully missed. Gareth Southgate should stop coming to Brighton games as every time the England boss is in attendance, Dunk has a funny moment.
Dan Burn – 6.48
Following his calamitous performance against Wolves, more than a few eyebrows were raised about the prospect of Dan Burn versus Kevin De Bruyne, Gundogan, Foden, Bernardo Silva et all. It says much about his strength of character that he was able to bounce back from that horror show in his last outing with a solid showing at the back.
Joel Veltman – 6.39
Seemed to be on a mission to annoy De Bruyne as much as possible in a classic Netherlands v Belgium battle. When he was not busy doing that, he coped reasonably well against Foden who was playing football from another planet at times.
Ben White – 6.61
Deployed in midfield again but it actually made sense on this occasion with Yves Bissouma suspended. It was one of his better performances in the middle of the park, helped by the fact that at times Brighton were forced so deep that he was in effect operating as an additional centre back.
Davy Propper – 6.17
Produced a gorgeous volley that was as good a technical strike as you will ever see, only lacking in the power needed to beat Ederson for Brighton’s one shot on target. Unusually for the handsome Dutchman, his final ball let him down at times.
Bernardo – 7.39
Spent the first 20 minutes jogging slowly around in circles like he was a glitch in a computer game. He then suddenly turned it on and had a superb evening. One last ditch intervention to turn a De Bruyne cross behind when Riyad Mahrez looked set to convert at the back post was the highlight.
Alexis Mac Allister – 7.61
His best game in a Brighton shirt so far. He threaded some lovely balls through – the volleyed pass to release Leandro Trossard was perfectly executed and perfectly weighted – and used possession well. The theory that he is much better in a counter attacking side who do not place all their focus on retaining possession continues to gather strength.
Leandro Trossard – 6.13
Much improved on his effort against Newport County at the weekend, although it would admittedly have been difficult for him to be worse. Had a couple of decent runs and flashed a good chance wide of the post when Mac Allister played him in.
PERCY TAU – 7.96
First Premier League start, first time at the top of the WAB Player Ratings – the Lion of Judah’s performance in Manchester City 1-0 Brighton was one of the best top flight Albion debuts we have seen for some time. It was his good work that set up Propper for the only shot on target.
Solly March – 5.48
Rested to the bench with one eye very much on Saturday’s trip to The Leeds United, he struggled to make much headway when introduced for the final 20 minutes as Brighton’s best spell of the match came to an end. Took a couple of corners that would have had Dean Cox blushing as they failed to beat the first man.
Neal Maupay – 4.87
Caused mass protests in South Africa when he replaced Tau in attack. Somebody on Twitter went mad with rage at a chance he apparently missed, but it was hard to recall him doing much at all during his time on the pitch.
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.
