It was a poor display from Brighton, as they suffered a 2-1 away to Bournemouth. (Photo by Peter Nicholls/Getty Images)placeholder image
It was a poor display from Brighton, as they suffered a 2-1 away to Bournemouth. (Photo by Peter Nicholls/Getty Images)
After a shaky 2-1 defeat against AFC Bournemouth, here’s how we rated the Brighton players.
Bournemouth opened the scoring in the 18th minute after a lovely curler strike from Alex Scott.
Dunk’s dodgy header away was intercepted by Semenyo, who set it up for Scott. The Bournemouth man was able to curl a beauty home, which set a tone for the remainder of the half.
Brighton ran out of ideas in the first half, with Bournemouth dominating in possession.
In the second half, Minteh whipped a wicked cross into Mitoma who headed it home to make it 1-1. It was an immediate impact on the 48th minute, and Albion looked a lot more confident.
In the 55th minute, the ball fell kindly to Welbeck, whose effort just skimmed past the post. Things were looking very solid for Albion.
Then there was chaos.
Dunk gave away the ball in the 58th minute, which allowed Bournemouth to break. Van Hecke then hacked down Evanilson, which was given as a penalty.
Semenyo put The Cherries back in front in the 60th minute. At 2-1, the game continued like the first half, with Bournemouth dominating yet again.
That 2-1 made it three wins in a row for Iraola’s side. For Fabian Hurzeler, it’s a concerning return after the international break.
Here are the Brighton player ratings:
Verbruggen – 6: Couldn’t do anything about Bournemouth’s first goal. It was a stunning strike that couldn’t be dealt with. He also couldn’t do much about the penalty.
Lewis Dunk– 4: His headed clearance fell kindly to Semenyo, who set up Alex Scott for Bournemouth’s goal. He was shaky and wasn’t able to lead the back line effectively. Dunk also got a yellow after a challenge on Evanilson. It’s a game he’ll want to forget quickly.
Jan Paul Van Hecke– 4: Was poor in this one. His passes were cut out easily. Sloppy passes and was easy to get past. When Albion gained confidence at 1-1 in the second half, he started to look more solid. However, he conceded the penalty that got The Cherries 2-1 up. It was a light one, but it was a foul.
De Cuyper– 6: Came off in the 24th minute due to injury. He struggled to get into the game.
Joel Veltman– 6: A cooler head at the back, but he wasn’t clear of the poor wave of form from everybody.
Georginio Rutter– 6: Was one of Brighton’s brighter sparks despite the poor display throughout the squad. However, he failed to cause too much trouble for the Bournemouth defence.
Yankuba Minteh– 7: He got Brighton’s first shot on target and came alive in the second half. He looked unstoppable, and kept his belief and confidence in this game. The cross he made for Mitoma’s goal in the second half was a beauty. There’s a lot more to come from Minteh.
Jack Hinshelwood– N/A: Came off early. Hopefully, the injury doesn’t take him away for too long.
James Milner – 5: Didn’t look up to pace to start this game. He’s more suited as an impact sub in a second half. He wasn’t able to sure up the midfield.
Danny Welbeck – 5: He wasn’t able to penetrate the Bournemouth defence. His biggest chance was in the 55th minute, where it fell kindly to him. His effort just skimmed past the post.
Karou Mitoma– 6: No magic in the first half, but he was able to head home a peach of a cross from Minteh. Like almost every player on the pitch for Albion though, he wasn’t in the best of form.
Subs for the Albion:
Yasin Ayari —6: Came on from Hinshelwood in the 3rd minute. He wasn’t able to sure up the midfield and struggled at times. However, he did thread through some dangerous passes at times and is continuing to develop well under Hurzeler.
Ferdi Kadioglu —6: Came on for De Cuyper in the 24th minute. For me, he looked more solid that his colleagues. He was patient when tracking back and was able to block off plenty of dangerous moves from Bournemouth.
Gruda — 6: He put in some dangerous crosses at the end of the game, but it wasn’t enough. He’s gaining a lot of confidence though, which showed in his football.
Baleba — 7: instant impact. He’s something else that boy. He was able to calm things down well when he came on near the end. His cool head allowed Albion to come on strong and try to get an admittedly undeserved equaliser in this one.
Tzimas —6: It was a mild start for the Greek striker, but it was a lot of pressure in that sort of environment. He didn’t get many minutes, but it’s good to see him playing for the Albion. It will be interesting to see how he does for The Seagulls this season.
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