We Are Brighton | Declan Rice is one of the finest midfielders in the Premier League. Yet he was outplayed and dominated by Carlos Baleba in Brighton 1-1 Arsenal, leading the young starlet from Cameroon to top the player ratings.
There were two main reasons why the Albion came from behind to take a second point of the season off Mikel Arteta’s title chasing Gunners.
The first was Fabian Hurzeler’s substitutions. Georginio Rutter, Yankubu Minteh and Kaoru Mitoma all came off the bench before the hour mark to give a more familiar feel from a starting XI which raised a few eyebrows when it was announced before the game.
And then there was Baleba. He was one of the few bright spots for Brighton during the first half, going onto grow in influence throughout the second.
“A cross between Yaya Toure and Moises Caicedo” was how one person described Baleba afterwards. Such comparisons should whack a few more million on his value when the European Super League Elite Six come sniffing. Which will be this summer if Baleba carries on playing like this.
Here are your Brighton 1-1 Arsenal player ratings.
Bart Verbruggen – 5.92
Should have done much better with the Arsenal goal when letting an Ethan Nwaneri shot slip under his body. Gathered a couple of Arsenal dead balls crossed into the box which relieved the pressure against opponents renowned for their set piece prowess.
Joel Veltman – 7.33
Tariq Lamptey did nothing to warrant being dropped following his scoring display at Aston Villa. But nobody grumbling at Veltman coming straight back into the XI is a sign of how highly rated he is by Albion fans. Kept Leandro Trossard quiet and started the move which led to Brighton’s big chance to win the game with a superb piece of skill, flicking the ball over the head of Mikel Merino and running around the other side to collect.
Jan Paul van Hecke – 7.08
Like Judas Iscariot, Van Hecke had Jesus’ number. This was important as (Gabriel) Jesus came into the game on a hot run of scoring form for the Gunners.
Igor Julio – 6.17
Igor, Igor, Igor! Back in the side thanks to a calf injury to Lewis Dunk. Solid enough but has been presumably marked down due to his part in the opening goal. Both he and Estupinan were caught out of position, leaving Nwaneri a huge amount of space to gallop into.
Pervis Estupinan – 6.00
Not his best evening. Part in the Arsenal goal aside, he made a number of strange decisions throughout the 90 minutes.
CARLOS BALEBA – 7.92
A Rolls Royce performance. Was here, there and everywhere shielding the defence. And that moment in the first half when he brought a difficult ball under control using his chest, juggled around a couple of Gunners players and then laid off right was outstanding. Even managed to provide one of the game’s best bit of comedy with a distance shot so wildly off target it went out for a throw.
Yasin Ayari – 7.25
“I want to score him a 3 for the first half and an 8 for the second half” wrote one Brighton supporter. And who are we to disagree? Lucky not to be hauled at the break, he made up for the reprieve with a much improved showing.
Brajan Gruda – 5.83
The Albion struggled to see much of the ball during the first half. Gruda frequently giving it away was therefore an increasing source of frustration. Hauled at half time.
Matt O’Riley – 5.83
Also withdrawn alongside Gruda at the break. Hurzeler played him as a number 10 off Joao Pedro but it did not work. The jury remains out still on what his best position is.
Simon Adingra – 5.25
Kept his place after scoring at Villa and was up against a makeshift right back with Arsenal covering the absence of Ben White by playing Thomas Partey out-of-position. Partey could not have hoped for an easier ride than the non-test Adingra provided before belatedly being replaced by Mitoma.
Joao Pedro – 7.67
Not many agreed with Pedro captaining the side having spent much of December looking totally disinterested. Hurzeler though was vindicated in his armband selection come full time as the responsibility drew from Pedro a performance good enough to finish second in the Brighton 1-1 Arsenal ratings. Won and then converted the equalising penalty which caused Arteta’s head to explode.
Georginio Rutter – 7.08
The Albion look such a more positive team with Rutter on the pitch. He presses hard and always wants to take a forward option. Something which the Gunners defence did not appreciate as they began to visibly tire having had two days less rest than Brighton.
Yankubu Minteh – 6.50
Looks like someone is controlling him on FIFA and has forgotten to press a button at times with the way he runs out of space to operate. When he gets it right though, he is dangerous. No better example than the run down the right after being released by Veltman, leading to a low pass across the face of goal begging to be converted by Ayari or Mitoma.
Kaoru Mitoma – 6.33
Not far away from tucking away Minteh’s cross at the back post. It would have been some impact from the Japanese Bullet Train and provided Brighton with a winner.
Adam Webster – 7.08
Coming on when Igor was injured for the closing stages against Arsenal was hardly the gentle introduction Webster would have been hoping for after three months out. He stuck to doing the basics of defending and was flawless in doing so. A big cameo.
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.