Neal Maupay’s overhead kick late on earned Brighton an unlikely 1-1 draw with West Ham despite the Seagulls being down to 10 men after injuries had taken their toll.
Frantic Start
Maupay dragged a shot wide in the first minute after a one-two with Yves Bissouma. Minutes later and against the run of play Tomas Soucek nodded in from a Pablo Fornals corner, though Brighton goalkepper Sanchez could have done better at his near post.
Rice then spotted the run of Coufal (by switching the play) who put a deep cross towards Antonio. Antonio headed back to Fornals who hit the post (he was back-pedalling and had to adjust his feet) with a volley struck with his laces.
One of Brighton’s substitutes, Solly March, almost created an equaliser when he played in Maupay, who in turn fed Moder in front of goal, but his shot was well saved by Lukasz Fabianski.
Sublime Second Half
West Ham thought they had doubled their lead on 49 minutes when Michail Antonio poked the ball over the line from close range after another error from Sanchez, but VAR chalked it off for offside.
Bowen’s shot drifted wide of the post after he went on a darting run. Trossard found Lallana in acres of space but seemed to scuff his shot.
Declan Rice forced a save out of Sanchez after Brighton failed to play out from the back. Coufal then delivered to Antonio who got across the face of the defender to head into the arms of Sanchez.
Late Action
Maupay equalised with an amazing bicycle kick from a Lamptey cross. How Maupay held Dawson off was amazing and the thought to twist his body for the overhead kick was even better.
At the death, Rice drove with the ball before passing to Bowen who called Sanchez to life again. Moments later Zouma’s header from Bowen’s corner was headed off the line by Cucurella.
Full time – West Ham 1-1 Brighton
Stats
Shots:
West Ham : 14 Brighton : 9
shots on target:
West Ham : 6 Brighton : 3
Possession:
West Ham: 34% Brighton : 66%
Passes:
West Ham :271 Brighton : 540
Pass accuracy:
West Ham: 72% Brighton: 85 %
Fouls:
West Ham : 10 Brighton : 8
Yellow Cards:
West Ham :1 Brighton: 1
Offside:
West Ham : 1 Brighton: 0
Player Ratings
West Ham: Fabianski (7), Johnson (7), Zouma (7), Dawson (6), Coufal (7), Soucek (7), Rice (7), Fornals (7), Bowen (7), Benrahma (6), Antonio (7)
Subs: Lanzini (6), Masuaku (6)
Brighton : Sanchez (5), Webster (6), Veltman (6), Dunk(6), Lallana(7), Bissouma (8), Moder (7), Cucurella (6), Trossard (6), Maupay (7), Sarmiento (6)
Subs: Lamptey (8), Duff (8), March (6)
Man of the match: Yves Bissouma
Opta Stats
West Ham have failed to win any of their nine Premier League games against Brighton, with each of the last six meetings ending in a draw (L3).
Brighton have now failed to win their last nine games in the Premier League (D7 L2), the third time they have been on a winless run of that length under Graham Potter in the Premier League.
What’s Next
West Ham now host Chelsea at 12:30pm on Saturday in the Premier League, while Brighton are at Southampton at 3pm on Saturday.
