Brighton December player ratings: Verbruggen shines as winless month yields three points | OneFootball

Brighton endured a wretched December, six games and no wins yielding three points from 18, with Bart Verbruggen the clear bright spot.

According to WeAreBrighton.com, the goalkeeper topped their monthly ratings with 7.13, 0.80 clear, his interventions preserving draws against West Ham and Sunderland, including a superb double save.

The month opened with a frantic 4-3 home defeat to Aston Villa, then an injury-time leveller snatched a draw against West Ham at the Amex. A 2-0 loss at Liverpool followed, then a 0-0 with Sunderland.

Brighton were beaten 2-1 at leaders Arsenal after a poor first half and improved second. December closed with another draw against West Ham, this time 2-2 away.

Ferdi Kadioglu scored 6.33 and won their fan vote, prompting a wry nod to ballots from Türkiye. Jan Paul van Hecke netted twice against Villa yet struggled defensively, still finishing third. Lewis Dunk marked his 500th Brighton appearance in that match.

Georginio Rutter rescued the Amex point but looked ill suited up front while Danny Welbeck managed a back issue. Mats Wieffer filled in at right back until a toe injury after Arsenal, and Joel Veltman’s return brought balance.

Carlos Baleba improved before AFCON and impressed as Cameroon reached the last eight. Kaoru Mitoma returned after 10 weeks and was rusty, while Yankuba Minteh’s 42-second error at Anfield summed up inconsistency.

Olivier Boscagli and Diego Coppola delivered the month’s only clean sheet against Sunderland but were soon rotated. James Milner’s late cameo at Liverpool felt token, and Stefanos Tzimas suffered a season-ending ACL days after his first league goal.

Source: WeAreBrighton.com