After the Lord Longstaff’s show or a decent result? Dan Jenkins was on his lofty level 7 perch. Here are his player ratings. Lovely.
Nick Pope – 7 – could do little to stop the goal and did pretty much everything else right.
Kieron Trippier – 7 – not a great first half but better after the break. Yet to see him once again hit the heights of his performances when he was chasing a WC squad place.
Fabian Schär – 7 – pushed on when West Ham parked the bus. Some things he tried didn’t come off but he also sprayed some sumptuous passes. Gets +1 for still being the most beautiful man in football.
Sven Botman – 8 – barely put a foot wrong all game, slotted Antonio into his back pocket second half.
Dan Burn – 6 – caught out a couple of times defensively and didn’t quite offer us enough going forward.
Joelinton – 7 – absolute warrior, and also did his best in the Bruno role, receiving and distributing the ball in tight spaces. Would have been a 9 if not for that dive. No need, big man.
Joe Willock – 5 – got repeatedly embarrassed by Declan Rice first half. Showed flashes going forward but largely a disappointing game.
Sean Longstaff – 7 – always grafts and gives an honest performance. Placed a perfectly weighted pass to set Wilson away for the goal. Otherwise did ok. Would do a lot better if elements of the fucking crowd didn’t jump on every little mistake he makes.
Allan Saint-Maximin – 4 – Was presented a gilt-edged opportunity to show us what we’ve been missing. Started well then sulked after being dispossessed. Should have been hooked at half time. Blew it.
Miguel Almirón – 7 – typically high-energy Miggy effort but lacked guile to go with his graft.
Callum Wilson – 8 – fixed up, looked sharp. Smartest he’s been since his illness. Took his goal really well and was only denied a second by a brilliant last-ditch tackle. Should have done better with that header, mind.
SUBS
Anthony Gordon (for ASM, 69 mins) – 7 – nearly got an assist for the winner when he put Wilson through on goal. Otherwise looked lively on the ball but had little chance to really shine.
Anderson (for Willock, 81) – 7 – helped us pile on the pressure in the last 10 minutes but no real stand-out moments.
Murphy (for Miggy, 81) – 6 – runs about, smiles a lot. Sadly no shit-housing today, though.
Dan Jenkins @PlumsGinger
I can’t agree on Callum.
I’d love to, but he still looked off the pace to me
Obviously he took his goal well, but Gordon put him clean through with a 2 or 3 yard head start. Callum of old would have buried that – at the very least he should have won a pen, there’s just no way the defender would have caught him 3 months ago.
And he didn’t do that much else – I think a 7 would be generous
And 8 for Joelinton. I agree the dive was silly but you can’t knock 2 points off for that?!