West Ham United dropped more points at home after drawing 1-1 with its guest, Brighton & Hove Albion. The Hammers may look at the game with disappointment just to pick up a point against the Seagulls, having given Fabian Horzler's side a tough test.
After the first 45 minutes did not witness any goals, the visitors took the lead at the London Stadium. Hammers goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski didn't quite cover himself in glory, as he blocked a Brighton free-kick as far as Mats Wever. With the goalkeeper stranded in the restricted area, the Dutchman fired the ball home first time from 10 yards.
It only took the home team a few moments to equalize. Six minutes after the Nawras team took a 1-0 lead, Muhammad Al-Quds He scored with his head. He converted the rebound that fell to him after Bart Verbruggen had managed to parry Jarrod Bowen's ferocious shot. The Ghanaian striker reacted well when he sent the rebound into the net and equalized for the Hammers.
West Ham may be disappointed to only get one point from the game. According to SovascorThey had a better expected goals tally than Brighton, with 1.6xG to 0.91xG. The chances were certainly there to win it. There were some good performers for Julen Lopetegui side today, with Kudus leading the way.
Kudos' performance against Brighton
24-year-old striker Kudus has not started the 2024/25 season he had hoped. Prior to Saturday afternoon's match with Brighton, he had just two goals and one assist In 11 Premier League matches This term.
However, he was much better against the Seagulls, working hard on and off the ball before finally getting rewarded with a goal. Kudus' strike was not a classic, as it lacked the flair that the Ghanaian normally displays when he hits the back of the net. However, it was an effective finish and earned the Hammers a key point. He even pulled his iconic celebration.
It is worth noting that Kudos was not playing his usual role on Saturday. Commercially, he is a right winger or number 10, although he played on the left against Brighton, and fulfilled his role well.
His statistics from the match showed how good he was against the Seagulls. 24 years old He had 49 touches He completed 83% of his passes. He worked admirably hard off the ball, winning 11 duels and four out of four tackles.
Kudos' goal was vital for the Hammers on Saturday and helped them secure a hard-fought draw. His goal must have been in relief of one of his fellow strikers, Niklas Volkrug, who struggled against the Seagulls.
Volkrug's performance against Brighton
It was not a good start to Volkrug's life at the London Stadium. The striker moved from Borussia Dortmund For a fee of £27.5 millionThe volatility has not reached the level of this price yet.
The 31-year-old striker Played only eight times Across all competitions, seven of those games, including Saturday's clash with Brighton, will come in the Premier League. He did so frustratingly He missed 11 matches With an Achilles tendon injury.
Against the South Coast team, the striker had no impact on the match at all, as the statistics show. He barely got a kick despite leading the Hammers' line Only 13 touches In the entire game. The German completed only one pass out of eight, bringing his pass accuracy to 13%, and lost the ball eight times.
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Volkrug stats vs Brighton |
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|---|---|
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Statistics |
number |
|
Touches |
13 |
|
Passing accuracy |
13% |
|
Passes completed |
1/8 |
|
Aerial duels won |
2/7 |
|
He won ground duels |
0/3 |
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Number of times possession was lost |
8 |
|
Shots on goal |
0/1 |
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Statistics from SofaScore |
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It's fair to say that the striker had a very disappointing performance against Brighton. The fact that he has struggled to get into the game to this extent could be a worry for Lopetegui, given that Michail Antonio will miss this season.
Volkrug would certainly have been relieved to see Kudus slot home, earning a crucial point, but he may have to watch from the sidelines next time out with Lopetegui surely returning to Bowen as main striker instead.