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WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month - April 2018

It might have been a winless April for Brighton and Hove Albion, but three draws and one defeat left the Seagulls looking likely to be playing Premier League football next season bar a mathematical miracle from one of the sides below them in the table.

Avoiding defeat against Huddersfield Town was arguably more important than winning the game and the Albion got a point courtesy of a 1-1 draw against the Terriers thanks to an own goal. It could've been even more had Shane Duffy not suffered a moment of madness to give the visitors their equaliser.

The less said about the visit to rivals Crystal Palace the better, some woeful defending allowing the Eagles to take a 3-2 victory. That was one of the worst performances of the season and Brighton followed it up in typical fashion with one of their best in drawing 1-1 at home to Tottenham Hotspur.

The month was rounded off with a hugely encouraging draw away at Europe-bound Burnley with Maty Ryan again excelling in a 0-0 at one of the toughest places in the Premier League to go.

April 2018 Player of the Month -  Maty Ryan (40.56% of the vote)
For the third time this season, Maty Ryan wins our Player of the Month poll after another outstanding April. He may have had arguably his worst game of the season in the debacle at Crystal Palace when the whole team collectively lost their minds, but his performance against Spurs and in particular that safe on the stroke of half time was a points winning one and he also excelled at Burnley, keeping a clean sheet at one the toughest places to visit in the Premier League. Without him, this season may not have been anywhere near the success it is turning into.
Played 4 (4 starts, 0 sub). Scored 0.
Second: Beram Kayal (22.78% of the vote)
 The Israeli midfielder benefited from Davy Propper's suspension to start three out of four games in April and he showed glimpses of the form that made him so formidable in the Championship before a terrible run of injuries, particularly in the Spurs game in which he covered every blade of grass.
Third: Gaetan Bong (18.33% of the vote)
 Relentleesly booed by the Burnley fans who didn't think he should report being racially abused, he showed what a strong character he is by putting in a man-of-the-match performance at Turf Moor as he nailed down the left back spot ahead of Markus Suttner.

 

The contenders:
Gaetan Bong - Struggled against Crystal Palace on a day in which none of the back four covered themselves in glory but was superb against Burnley, especially given the relentless booing he received from the locals for reporting being racially abused by Jay Rodriguez
Bruno - The Albion captain returned to the side after the defensive debacle against Palace and was hugely impressive in dealing with the threat of Son Heung-min in the draw with Spurs and with helping secure the clean sheet in the draw at Burnley
Pascal Gross - Covered every single blade of grass in the draw with Spurs in which he also successfully converted a penalty to ensure Germany keeps up its fine reputation as producing great takers of kicks from 12 yards
Beram Kayal - Afforded another run in the starting line up thanks to Davy Propper's suspension, he was one of the few players to emerge from Palace with any credit and turned into a one man blocking machine in the game with Spurs.
Maty Ryan - One outrageous save right at the end of the first half against Spurs was followed up with another brilliant showing at Burnley. Had his first poor game for the club at Palace but the fact he has got this far into the season without one says everything.
Dale Stephens - Returned from his month-long "minor knock" against Huddersfield. The time on the sidelines seems to have done him a world of good as he gave one of his performances of the campaign against Spurs.