Brighton 0-0 Burnley: Player Ratings as Dominant Seagulls Fail to Make Chances Pay
By Tom Gott
Brighton showed real attacking desire but were forced to settle for a point against a Burnley side who never really looked like scoring on Friday evening.
The opening four minutes saw Tariq Lamptey sky a good chance and Matt Lowton hit the bar with a cross, but we then had to wait almost half an hour for some more excitement. Danny Welbeck found himself in on goal twice but couldn't find a way through Nick Pope, who single-handedly kept Burnley level at the break. It was all Brighton.
Burnley threatened to get more involved after the break but it was Brighton who enjoyed the better chances. Pascal Gross and Neal Maupay had a handful of good efforts early in the second half but neither could find a way through the Burnley wall.
Brighton pressed and pressed and pressed but ultimately lacked the quality needed to claim all three points.
BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION
1. Goalkeeper & Defenders
Mat Ryan (GK) - 6/10 - Had a few routine saves to make but spent most of the game as a spectator.
Adam Webster (CB) - 6/10 - Had a battle on his hands with Burnley's strikers and rarely looked under too much pressure. Struggled in the air but made up for it on the ground.
Ben White (CB) - 6/10 - Combined some shocking short passing with some impressive long passing. Looked a little nervy.
Joel Veltman (CB) - 7/10 - Spent most of his time trying to get involved in the attack, seemingly copying Chris Wilder's overlapping centre-back tactic. It worked pretty well.
2. Midfielders
Tariq Lamptey (RM) - 7/10 - Could have scored after a few seconds. Constantly charging around the pitch to create chances, even switching over to the left when the space opened up.
Yves Bissouma (CM) -7/10 - Stopped Burnley in their tracks time and time again. Looked comfortable recycling possession and giving the ball to his creative teammates.
Pascal Gross (CM) - 6/10 - Comfortable on the ball and asked a few questions of Burnley's defence, but often lacked the final ball.
Dan Burn (LM) - 7/10 - Watching a 6'7 centre-back charging down the wing will never not be weird, but Burn pulled it off well. Was involved in a lot of good moments down the left.
Adam Lallana (AM) - 8/10 - Star of the show. Drifting around all over the pitch to get the ball and showcased a level of class that nobody else on the pitch possessed. Looked very dangerous.
Neal Maupay (AM) - 7/10 - Deployed slightly deeper and looked to be enjoying the extra freedom. Found some good spaces but didn't do much with them.
3. Forward
Danny Welbeck (ST) - 7/10 - Some excellent movement to pull Burnley's defence out of position. Could have had a few goals but found Pope too big to overcome.
4. Substitutes
Alireza Jahanbakhsh - N/A
Aaron Connolly - N/A
BURNLEY
5. Goalkeeper & Defenders
Nick Pope (GK) - 7/10 - A busy night for Pope, who made a handful of impressive saves to stop Brighton from running away with this one.
Matt Lowton (RB) - 4/10 - Hit the bar with a cross early on but everything went downhill after. Couldn't handle Burn and Maupay.
James Tarkowski (CB) - 6/10 - Had a tough battle with Welbeck and usually came out on the losing end, but managed to do enough to keep Brighton out.
Ben Mee (CB) - 7/10 - Had an early scare but quickly regained his composure, making a number of vital interceptions to try and keep Brighton at bay. Highlight was a fantastic last-ditch challenge on Lamptey early on.
Charlie Taylor (LB) - 5/10 - Tormented by Lamptey all evening but found himself in a lot of good areas to sweep up the danger.
6. Midfielders
Dwight McNeil (RM) - 3/10 - Couldn't get into the game whatsoever. Had to spend most of his time as a second full-back, and unsurprisingly, wasn't very good.
Ashley Westwood (CM) - 4/10 - Lost the midfield battle to Bissouma. Looked uncomfortable when trying to advance forward and struggled to shield his defence.
Josh Brownhill (CM) - 6/10 - Gave Burnley a much-needed midfield outlet to help them fend off pressure, but struggled to turn that into anything of note in the final third.
Robbie Brady (LM) - 6/10 - Looked like he wanted to make a real difference, throwing in cross after cross, but ended up over-hitting most of his deliveries. Can't fault the effort.
7. Forwards
Chris Wood (ST) - 3/10 - Feeding on scraps in attack. Won a handful of headers but never had any chance of controlling the ball. Had no help from his team-mates.
Ashley Barnes (ST) - 3/10 - Asked a few questions of Brighton's defence early on but spent most of his time complaining when he couldn't get a shot away.
8. Substitutes
Jay Rodriguez - 5/10
Matej Vydra - N/A