Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 Reading FC: Player Ratings

Ali Al-Habsi: 6

Made some good saves when called upon, but never really had many shots that troubled him, aside from the goal.

Chris Gunter: 5

Jamie Murphy didn’t particularly challenge Gunter down the right hand side, but he was too slow in closing down James Wilson before his goal. That and the booking saw a below-average showing for the Welshman.

Anton Ferdinand: 5

Easily outpaced, especially for the goal, struggled at times to contain Sam Baldock but looked more assured in the second half.

Paul McShane: 6

Other than being taken out of the game completely by Baldock's pace for the goal, looked in control and stopped any real chances getting through to Al-Habsi.

Jordan Obita: 5

Anthony Knockaert beat him on too many occasions and he failed to get many crosses into the box considering how much of the ball he saw down that left flank.

Ola John: 4

Really disappointed with Ola. Showed no regard for defensive duties, his touch was woeful and Bruno had him in the tackle almost nine times out of 10.

Michael Hector: 6

After a shaky first few minutes he began to settle down, breaking up the play well; although he looked out of his depth in a 4-4-2, and really should have down better with a rebound he blazed over the bar from six yards out.

Danny Williams: 6

He really stepped up in the second half, doing what he does best by picking the ball up deep and running at the defence, although he rarely found a pass at the end of these mazy runs.

Hal Robson-Kanu: 6

Was obviously pinpointed as a threat as when he received the ball he quickly found about three Brighton players on him. Was left isolated by Gunter's inability to get forward, had a few glimpses of slight quality though.

Matej Vydra: 5

Should have done better with an early chance, looked uninterested and many passes sent astray. He made a few good touches here and there but nothing significant.

Yann Kermorgant: 6

Applied lots of pressure and won a lot of headers giving the Royals a real aerial threat that the rest of the team didn’t effectively utilize.

Substitutes

Garath McCleary: 6

Looked a real threat when he replaced Vydra, and did what John couldn’t: ran at full backs and beat them.

Deniss Rakels: N/A

Didn’t see much of the ball and didn’t have much time to make a difference but applied a lot of pressure.

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