George Rutte (£5.6m) rescued a point for Brighton and Hove Albion with a late strike against West Ham United.
Here are our scout notes from Amex Stadium.
RUTTER FINALLY SCORES
This wasn’t Brighton’s best game.
For long periods they seemed low on self-confidence and only managed to register a shot on target in the 70th minute. However, they pulled themselves back into the match, with Rutter finding the net late on.
Back in the first XI after a head injury, it was Rutter’s first goal of the season.
In a match where he scored six shots, the Frenchman was consistently involved and got into some very decent positions with everything flowing through him.
“He played a good game with a lot of action. He scored the goal, so hopefully it will give him a boost.” – Fabian Hurzeler about Georginio Rutter
Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.5m) claimed the assist for Rutter’s equaliser.
The Dutchman has now scored clean sheets in just two of his last ten games, with 57 points as of Gameweek 6, the second most of any defender.
MINTEH ASKED
It was not a very nice afternoon for owners of Yankuba Minteh (£6.3m) however.
He was transferred by over 240,000 managers for Gameweek 15 and blank for the third game in a row.
With only one shot and zero chances created, an unforgettable afternoon was made even more regrettable by a substitution in the 71st minute.
We haven’t heard any statements from Fabian Hurzeler as to why the winger was taken off, but it is the first time he has been substituted since Gameweek 1.
Maxim De Cuyper (£4.3 million) was withdrawn at the same time, but he did much better, earning four clean sheets (the match was goalless at the time of their abandonment) and a share of the bonus.
De Cuyper, who started as a left back in this match, also almost claimed an assist Mats Wieffer (£4.9m) missed a sitter during his teasing delivery. The expected goals (xG) on that chance was 0.47.
His replacement, Charalampos Kostoulas (£4.8m) was also bright, scoring four shots in just 18 minutes of football.
“He showed things that he shows even more in training in terms of finding good solutions in tight spaces, having creativity and making things happen for us. Overall he is pushing and could play more minutes for us.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Charalampos Kostoulas
In the meantime, Lewis Dunk (£4.5 million) and Ferdi Kadioglu (£4.4m) both secured their fourth bookings of the campaign.
BOWEN TOP OF SHOTS
West Ham are definitely going in the right direction under Nuno Espirito Santo, and their draw at the Amex Stadium on Sunday means they have lost just one of their last six games.
Jarrod Bowen (£7.6m) were again heavily involved, scoring five goal attempts on the south coast.
Over the past six Gameweeks, he has topped the list among all FPL shot assets:
At Brighton, Bowen’s attacking trio Lucas Paqueta (£5.9 million) and Crysencio Summerville (£5.5m) looked dangerous throughout, with the Brazilian’s ability to play through balls to his pacey teammates a constant threat.
Having previously been denied one of the solo goals of the season so far, Bowen finally scored his first goal since September, assisted by Callum Wilson (£5.8m), who looked sharp after his introduction in the second half.
“Jarrod Bowen is a fantastic player. I’m very happy that he had a goal to increase his self-confidence.” – The Holy Spirit on the Holy Spirit on the Holy Spirit op
Despite conceding a very late goal, West Ham were well organized for the most part Matthew Fernandes (£5.5m) excellent in Nuno’s 3-4-1-2 formation.
West Ham’s next two games remain tricky (AVL/mci), but prospects look much brighter in Gameweek 18, when they face the next ticker-topping run:
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