Football

Brighton vs Bournemouth player ratings: The Seagulls continue to prosper

September 24, 2023 8:40 pm
Brighton vs Bournemouth player ratings: The Seagulls continue to prosper
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  • Brighton come from a goal down to defeat Bournemouth 3-1 at the Amex Stadium.
  • Dominic Solanke gave the visitors an early lead but they were pegged back on the stroke of half time via a Milos Kerkez own goal.
  • Brighton stepped up the tempo in the second half and got the win thanks to a double from Kaoru Mitoma.

Brighton player ratings

Bart Verbruggen 4/10 – Was caught out for the first goal by being lazy in possession and was made to pay by Solanke.

Joel Veltman 6/10 – Dealt with Kluivert well but perhaps could have offered more going forward.

Adam Webster 7/10 – Returned to the starting lineup and didn’t put a foot wrong. Should now enjoy another spell next to Dunk.

Lewis Dunk 7/10 – Looked as comfortable and as assured as ever at the back. Irreplaceable.

Pervis Estupinan 7/10 – Delivered a peach of a ball to Mitoma to make it 3-1.

Billy Gilmour 7/10 – Fits like a glove in the Brighton midfield and kept them moving forward with intensity in the second half.

Mahmoud Dahoud 6/10 – Worked hard in midfield but was perhaps guilty of taking too long on the ball at times.

Facundo Buonanotte 5/10 – Not the youngster’s best game and he was hooked at half time.

Danny Welbeck 6/10 – Clearly one of de Zerbi’s favourites – does what’s expected of him and never stops out of possession.

Simon Adingra 7/10 – Showed some nice trickery at times and was Brighton’s biggest threat in the first half.

Evan Ferguson 5/10 – A rare poor outing from Ferguson and Brighton improved when he was subbed.

Substitutes

Kaoru Mitoma 9/10 – Came on at half time and took the game away from Bournemouth with two goals.

Ansu Fati 8/10 – Was also brought on at half time and looked like an absolute superstar.

Joao Pedro 6/10 – A decent cameo from Pedro who will surely become a first-team regular soon.

Carlos Baleba N/A

Tariq Lamptey N/A

Bournemouth player ratings

Neto 6/10 – Was caught in no man’s land for the Brighton equaliser but also made some clever stops.

Max Aarons 6/10 – Struggled at times against Adingra but gave Brighton something to worry about going the other way.

Ilya Zabarnyi 5/10 – Consistently made errors throughout and was caught sleeping for Mitoma’s first.

Lloyd Kelly 5/10 – Was far too rash at times and gave Mitoma the freedom of the penalty box when he made it 3-1.

Milos Kerkez 4/10 – Scored an own goal and never recovered from that point on.

Lewis Cook 6/10 – Was tidy on the ball but could have done more off it.

Philip Billing 7/10 – Bournemouth’s best player on the day and came millimetres away from scoring a stunning free kick.

Justin Kluivert 6/10 – Failed to offer a significant threat and will need to improve.

Ryan Christie 5/10 – An anonymous display from Christie who looks out of his depth at this level.

Marcus Tavernier 6/10 – Put in a shift to help out his full back but couldn’t do anything of note moving forward.

Dominic Solanke 7/10 – Finished delightfully to give Bournemouth the lead.

Substitutes

Dango Ouattara 6/10 – Struggled to make an impact on the match.

Antoine Semenyo 6/10 – Had a few openings but snatched at them.

Hamed Junior Traore N/A

David Brooks N/A

Marcos Senesi N/A

Brighton vs Bournemouth match summary and highlights

After their disappointing loss on Thursday night to AEK Athens, Brighton came into this one with a tired, but determined, group of players. Manager Roberto de Zerbi made a string of changes to his eleven but given the depth at his disposal, it was still a more than capable outfit.

Despite that, it was Bournemouth who took the lead when Dominic Solanke pounced on a sloppy error from goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen in the Brighton goal. Solanke composed himself before lifting the ball over Verbruggen’s head and the visitors had an early lead.

The half was fizzling out when Bournemouth decided to give Brighton a free route back into the match. A whipped ball into the box glanced off Milos Kerkez’ head and past a helpless Neto in the Bournemouth goal. The goal didn’t deter de Zerbi, however, who still made the decision to bring on Mitoma and Fati at half time and it didn’t take long for him to reap the rewards.

Almost instantly from kick-off, Mitoma found himself through on goal and he finished nicely to give Brighton the lead. Later in the half, Mitoma nodded home following a lovely cross from Estupinan to seal the win.

Player of the match: Kaoru Mitoma

Brighton were sluggish and slow in the first half but that all changed when Kaoru Mitoma was introduced at half time. The Japanese winger instantly gave his side more purpose and he more than deserved both of his goals. Any suggestion that Mitoma would turn out to be a one-season wonder are now very much dead in the water.

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