Habib Diarra dismal, Granit Xhaka deserved more – Sunderland player ratings vs Brighton
Sunderland were condemned to a bitter 1-0 defeat by Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday.
Yankuba Minteh scored the only goal of the game at the Stadium of Light, burying into the back of the net from a tight angle on 58 minutes following a corner.
VAR checked the incident after Habib Diarra had gone down inside the box, but Minteh’s effort was allowed to stand, the second time the technology had stung the hosts on Saturday.
Indeed, Chris Rigg looked to have got off the mark in the top flight with a fine strike shortly after half-time, only for Omar Alderete to be narrowly caught offside in the build-up.
Here, Mackem News delivers player ratings after a match that will sting for Regis Le Bris.
Habib Diarra not justifying record move
Sunderland‘s cause was not aided by Diarra’s poor afternoon.
The £30million record signing joined from Strasbourg on a five-year deal in the summer, but has not quite found his feet in the Premier League and will require patience.
It is certainly not easy to adapt to the top-flight, and that much was obvious against Brighton. Diarra didn’t connect with the forwards and was caught out defensively too many times.
As shown by the Sofascore graphic, he lost possession no less than 18 times and won only one of his seven contested duels, while his sole attempted dribble was unsuccessful.
Making matters worse, he was also prostrate on the deck when the visitors broke the deadlock. Later, a foul throw when Sunderland were chasing a leveller summed up his display.
Le Bris will not have been impressed and could be tempted to drag him out of the firing line.
Granit Xhaka performance deserved better
Once again, however, Granit Xhaka was at the heart of everything positive for Sunderland, with the manner of the defeat an unfortunate blot on his copybook.
The veteran midfielder dictated the tempo and worked tirelessly throughout the 90 minutes, but his composed display in the pivot still wasn’t enough to rescue a point.
He completed around 80 per cent of his passes, the majority of which came inside Brighton’s half, and also stepped up defensively, making five recoveries and one tackle.
These are the types of performances Mackems supporters have come to expect from Xhaka week in and week out, but they certainly shouldn’t be taken for granted.
| Granit Xhaka vs Brighton | Statistic |
| Minutes played | 90 |
| Accurate passes | 55/67 (82%) |
| Touches | 84 |
| Tackles | 1 |
| Recoveries | 7 |
Where Sunderland finish the campaign will undoubtedly rely heavily on their captain.
Sunderland player ratings vs Brighton
Melker Ellborg – 6
Lutsharel Geertruida – 6
Dan Ballard – 6
Omar Alderete – 6
Trai Hume – 6
Granit Xhaka – 7
Chris Rigg – 6
Habib Diarra – 4
Noah Sadiki – 7
Chemsdine Talbi – 6
Brian Brobbey – 5
Substitutes:
Luke O’Nien – 6
Eliezer Mayenda – N/A
Dennis Cirkin – N/A
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