Kaoru Mitoma, who appeared like a comet this season, has been struggling lately.
Brighton lost 1-4 to Newcastle United in the 25th round of the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2022-23 season held at St. James Park in Newcastle, England on the 19th at 3:30 am (Korean time). With this, Brighton remained in 6th place in the league with 58 points, and a red flag was turned on to advance to the European competition. On the other hand, Newcastle maintained its third place with 69 points, increasing its chances of advancing to the UEFA Champions League (UCL) next season.
Home Newcastle this season is a team that is difficult for anyone to stop. It was the same on this day. Newcastle pushed hard from the start and aimed at Brighton’s goal. It finally paid off. In the 22nd minute of the first half, in a corner kick attack situation, Dennis Undav headed the ball into his own goal while defending the ball raised by Kieran Trippier and conceded a goal.
Newcastle, riding on momentum, even scored an extra goal. In the first half of extra time, Dan Byrne shook the net with a header in a free kick situation. The first half ended with Newcastle leading 2-0. Brighton started the pursuit with Undav’s comeback goal in the 6th minute of the second half. However, at the end of the second half, Colum Wilson and Bruno Guimaraes scored consecutive goals for Newcastle, and Brighton eventually knelt 1-4.
Mitoma, who was the starting pitcher that day, did not show much. He was quiet, recording 27 ball touches, 1 key pass, 1 shot, and 6 dribble attempts (3 successful). England’s Sussex Live gave a rating of 5, saying, “Mitoma looked tired as the game went on. He has not been able to raise his attack points in the last 9 consecutive matches in the official game.”
Mitoma appeared like a comet this season and received a lot of attention. After manager Roberto De Zerbi took over, he seized the opportunity and leaped into the starting lineup. He is having a fantastic season with 7 goals and 5 assists this season. For this reason, he was nominated for the EPL Team of the Season-TOTS.
He is a player who excels at dribbling. Mitoma boasts explosive speed and is a style that destroys opponents through dribbling. In addition, the basic technique is good, the touch is concise, and the body is well-balanced, so I tend to dribble in a low position.
However, its influence is gradually waning. There are more and more cases where the dribble pattern is read and the opponent’s wingback is not able to take advantage of the competition. Recently against Manchester United, he was thoroughly blocked by Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and on this day, he was repeatedly blocked by Trippier and did not show great performance. Mitoma seems to have to go beyond this process in order to grow one step further.