Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton: Player ratings as late Maupay strike saves Seagulls

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Brighton missed the chance to go top of the Premier League as Neal Maupay’s late strike saw them snatch a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace on Monday.

The visitors struggled to get anything going early on as Palace’s high tempo saw them run rings around their visitors, but some spirited defending kept the scoreline level early on.

It took Palace until stoppage time of the first half to make the breakthrough as Zaha slotted home from the penalty spot after Conor Gallagher was fouled in the box.

The second half was more of an even contest as Brighton, who were without the injured Yves Bissouma, shifted tactics to compete more in the midfield.

Graham Potter’s men enjoyed plenty of possession and largely restricted Palace to counterattacks, from which Jordan Ayew had the game’s best chance with 15 minutes to go as he found himself through on goal, but he sent his strike into the side netting.

With just seconds remaining, Brighton snatched an equaliser as Maupay found himself through on goal, and his glorious lob nestled in the back of the net to earn Potter’s men a share of the spoils.

Here’s how both sets of players rated…

Danny Welbeck, Vicente GuaitaDanny Welbeck, Vicente Guaita

Guaita made a good stop to deny Welbeck / ADRIAN DENNIS/Getty Images

Vicente Guaita (GK) – 6/10 – Didn’t have much to do but managed to stay alert to make a good stop to deny Welbeck in the first half. Probably should have done better for the equaliser.

Joel Ward (RB) – 5/10 – Caught out of position a little too often and failed to track Welbeck’s movements. Fortunate that his mistakes weren’t fatal.

Joachim Andersen (CB) – 8/10 – Happy to head away any long balls but made a real impact with the ball at his feet. Kept Palace ticking over well and threw himself at everything.

Marc Guehi (CB) – 7/10 – Physically too much for Brighton’s forwards. Bullied Trossard early on and never looked unsettled even as the pressure was ramped up.

Tyrick Mitchell (LB) – 7/10 – More of a left winger as Palace pressed high. So involved in everything the team did as Guehi stepped up to cover him.

Conor GallagherConor Gallagher

Gallagher was excellent / ADRIAN DENNIS/Getty Images

Conor Gallagher (CM) – 8/10 – Brilliant work to win the penalty and led Palace’s press with outstanding energy. Looks at home in the Premier League.

Luka Milivojevic (CM) – 6/10 – Asked to play a lot of passes and pulled most of them off, but was guilty of a few sloppy balls. Appears to have been permanently bumped from penalty duty now.

James McArthur (CM) – 7/10 – Physically impressive and technically sound. Happy to get on the ball and constantly had his head up looking for the right pass.

Jordan Ayew (RW) – 6/10 – Noticeably less involved in Palace’s attacks than his left-sided teammates, but still did well trying to insert himself centrally. Good work rate.

Odsonne Edouard (ST) – 6/10 – Didn’t always manage to find space between Brighton’s towering defenders, but put himself about enough and did manage the odd snapshot.

Wilfried Zaha (LW) – 8/10 – Had Veltman on toast. His link-up with Mitchell was excellent and he was a constant threat with explosive dribbling and directness. Classy finish from the spot.

Christian Benteke (ST) – 6/10 – Spent most of his time on the pitch feeding off scraps as a target man.

Cheikhou Kouyate (CM) – 6/10 – Provided a little more energy to Palace’s midfield after replacing Milivojevic.

Jeffrey Schlupp (RW) – N/A – A late replacement for Ayew.

Robert SanchezRobert Sanchez

Sanchez wasn’t particularly busy / Robin Jones/Getty Images

Robert Sanchez (GK) – 6/10 – Had no chance with the penalty but managed a handful of decent saves otherwise. One or two nice long balls for Welbeck.

Shane Duffy (CB) – 6/10 – Another composed performance. Did well to keep Edouard out of the game but had no chance up against Zaha.

Lewis Dunk (CB) – 6/10 – Made himself known in the air at both ends of the field.

Dan Burn (CB) – 6/10 – Surprisingly taken off at half-time after doing a decent job of stepping out of defence to add numbers to the midfield.

Joel Veltman, Marc CucurellaJoel Veltman, Marc Cucurella

Cucurella put in a shift as a wing-back / Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Joel Veltman (RM) – 5/10 – Generally didn’t do much wrong but just couldn’t deal with being outnumbered by Zaha and Mitchell. Looked weaker than he was.

Pascal Groß (CM) – 5/10 – Took far too long to actually get going. Was left chasing shadows in the first half but showed some decent moves after the break.

Adam Lallana (CM) – 7/10 – Nearly single-handedly dragged Brighton into this one. The brightest part of the first half and continued to strut his stuff with some nice moves in the second.

Marc Cucurella (LM) – 6/10 – Combined well with Welbeck and put in a real shift down the left side.

Leandro Trossard (RW) – 6/10 – Really poor in the first half but really impressive in the second. Began pulling the strings but needed to do it earlier.

Neal Maupay (ST) – 6/10 – Out of the game for so long but popped up with the all-important goal, which he took very well.

Danny Welbeck (LW) – 6/10 – Made some really nice runs but wasn’t always spotted by his teammates.

Steven Alzate (CM) – N/A – Brought on at half-time but managed just 15 minutes before picking up a nasty looking ankle injury.

Jakub Moder (CM) – 6/10 – Brought on for Alzate and put in a handful of decent crosses.

Aaron Connolly (ST) – 6/10 – Didn’t really get much chance to impact the game.