Brighton player ratings: £30m ace scores 8 on first start as Albion punish poor Burnley and end winless run

Goals from Georginio Rutter and Yasin Ayari were enough to see off Scott Parker’s side – who made life far too easy for the hosts.

It was a much-needed morale booster for Albion, who had failed to win any of the previous six matches.

The return of Pascal Großmade the afternoon even sweeter, with the German coming on for the final 20 minutes. The Albion legend, 34, returned to the club from Borussia Dortmund this week.

Here are our Brighton player ratings:

Bart Verbruggen – 7: Good save at end of the first half but not much else to do. Nearly lost his clean sheet after an unconvincing punch was headed back towards goal but Kadıoğlu came to the rescue with a goal-line clearance.

Ferdi Kadıoğlu – 8: Preserved the clean sheet with a last ditch header onto the crossbar. That capped off a superb performance for the Turkish international, who was a real threat going forward. His set pieces were a constant danger and he won several free-kicks for his team.

Lewis Dunk – 7: The captain was solid at the back but should have been among the goalscorers after he had a free first-half header.

Jan Paul van Hecke – 7: Mostly untroubled defensively and, such was his confidence, he nearly scored with an acrobatic effort. Comic moment late on as the Dutchman’s attempted clearance smashed into the face of Yasin Ayari and back towards goal. Verbruggen was able to grab hold of the ball, though.

Joel Veltman – 7: Has brought some much needed stability back to the defence. Composed performance from the experienced Duthcman.

Diego Gomez – 6: Didn’t pull up many trees but kept things ticking over in the midfield. Had a couple of half-chances.

Yasin Ayari – 8: Involved in build-up to opening goal, and he capitalised on Burnley’s sloppiness at the back to put Brighton into a 2-0 lead. He set up Charalampos Kostoulas’ offside goal with a superb pass. He found Kostoulas again in the second half but the young Greek striker couldn’t quite direct his effort, on the stretch, on target. Named the sponsors’ man-of-the-match.

Kaoru Mitoma – 7: First start since September. Looked full of energy and it meant the players around him could thrive in a more natural attacking set up. Brilliant to have him back.

Georginio Rutter – 8: Not been a great season for the Frenchman but this was a good day. Lovely finish for the goal. He won numerous fouls, with Burnley unable to cope with his tenacity.

Brajan Gruda – 6: Full of running but his final ball was missing today.

Charalampos Kostoulas – 7: Unlucky not to mark his first start with a goal. He was marginally offside before finding the back of the net with a clinical finish very early on. Had a few half chances and made a real nuisance of himself up top.

Substitutes:

Danny Welbeck – 7: Brilliant piece of skill left Kyle Walker looking up to the heavens before the striker went on a mazy run. Didn’t quite come off unfortunately.

Maxim De Cuyper – 7: So close to scoring with brilliant free-kick, off the woodwork. He won the free-kick himself and fought off competition from a number of teammates who wanted to take it.

Pascal Groß – 7: Got the loudest cheer of the day when he came on – and every touch was appreciated by the fans. Isn’t it great to see him back? A special day for him and the Brighton fans who adore him.

James Milner – 7: Came on for the final ten minutes to mark his 649th Premier League appearance, on the eve of his 40th birthday. He is now only four appearances shy of Gareth Barry's all-time Premier League record of 653 appearances.

Tommy Watson – N/A