The spoils were shared in east London on Saturday afternoon as West Ham and Brighton played out a 1-1 draw in the Premier League.
After smashing the Seagulls at the Amex last season, West Ham were still looking for their daughter. Premier League victory over Brighton at the London Stadium. They went into Saturday's win in better form than their visitors, who had not won in four, and Julen Lopetegui's side started well on home soil.
The Hammers tried to exploit Brighton's high defensive line through long balls and play breakers, with Jarrod Bowen, in particular, relishing the space he was given. Bowen drew the first save from Bart Verbruggen, who wasn't tested as much in the opening period.
After a sloppy start, the visitors settled into the contest and began to pick apart the hosts in the line-up. Brighton looked a threat out wide and had joy in pulling away West HamCentral midfielders in areas they didn't want to defend. However, the Seagulls proved ineffective in the final third and both sides went into the first half goalless.
A fairly routine match burst into life at the start of the second half with goals coming at both ends of the pitch. After Mats Wieffer scored his first goal Brighton goal to open the scoring, Lopetegui's substitutes paid dividends as Bowen, who moved into a central position, ran at the Seagulls defense and forced another save from Verbruggen. The comeback was led by Mohammed Kudus.
However, the Ghanaian's equalizer failed to ignite the hosts and Lopetegui eventually switched to a 5-4-1 in a bid to re-establish control without possession. The encounter then evolved into a torrid back-and-forth battle, with both teams, especially Brighton, creating decent chances to win the contest.
However, no killer touch came as a result of some excellent late Hammers defending.
|
The players |
evaluations |
|---|---|
|
GC: Lukasz Fabianski |
7.4/10 |
|
RB: Aaron Wan-Bissaka |
7.4/10 |
|
CB: Konstantinos Mavropanos |
7.2/10 |
|
CB: Max Kilman |
7.4/10 |
|
LB: Emerson |
6.9/10 |
|
DM: Edson Alvarez |
7.9/10 |
|
RM: Jarrod Bowen |
7.4/10 |
|
CM: Thomas Soucek |
6.5/10 |
|
CM: Lucas Paqueta |
6.2/10 |
|
LM: Muhammad Jerusalem |
7.9/10 |
|
ST: Niclas Fullkrug |
5.9/10 |
|
UNDER: Jean-Clair Todibo (46' for Mavropanos) |
6.5/10 |
|
UNDER: Crysencio Summerville (57' for Fullkrug) |
6.5/10 |
|
UNDER: Oliver Scarles (71' for Paqueta) |
6.0/10 |
|
UNDER: Vladimir Coufal (71' for Emerson) |
6.0/10 |
|
UNDER: Guido Rodriguez (90' for Alvarez) |
6.0/10 |
Subs not used: Alphonse Areola (GK), Luis Guillermo, Danny Ings, Andy Irving.
|
The players |
evaluations |
|---|---|
|
GC: Bart Verbruggen |
7.0/10 |
|
RB: Joel Veltman |
7.0/10 |
|
CB: Jan Paul van Hecke |
6.8/10 |
|
CB: Lewis Dunk |
7.4/10 |
|
LB: Pervis Estupina |
7.4/10 |
|
DM: Carlos Baleba |
7.6/10 |
|
DM: Mats Wieffer |
7.8/10 |
|
RW: Brian Gruda |
6.0/10 |
|
AM: João Pedro |
6.3/10 |
|
LM: Kauro Mitoma |
6.8/10 |
|
ST: George Rutter |
5.8/10 |
|
UNDER: Yasin Ayari (56' for Wieffer) |
6.4/10 |
|
UNDER: Yankuba Minteh (67' for Gruda) |
6.3/10 |
|
UNDER: Tariq Lamptey (68' for Veltman) |
6.6/10 |
|
UNDER: Julio Enciso (68' for Rutter) |
6.4/10 |
|
UNDER: Evan Ferguson (85' for Mitoma) |
6.0/10 |
Subs not used: Jason Steele (GK), Igor Julio, Simon Adingra, Matt O'Riley.