Hammers Unable To Break Brighton Hoodoo

West Ham United are now unbeaten in their last three games against Brighton and Hove Albion, as they came from behind to secure a point in a 1-1 draw in Stratford on Saturday afternoon.

Julen Lopetegui was without the suspended Carlos Soler but it wasn’t a major issue, as Emerson Palmieri had returned from his own one-match ban to replace him. Vladimír Coufal dropped to the bench, as the Hammers’ Head-Coach gave a first Premier League start to striker Niclas Füllkrug. Once again, youngsters Luis Guilherme and Oliver Scarles were part of the matchday squad.

Last season’s encounter between the two sides here ended in a goalless draw and to be fair, it looked as if this encounter would go the same way during large periods of the first-half with Fabian Hürzeler’s men not having won in their last four games, while the hosts continue to struggle for consistency.

The defences of both teams were proving resilient, as each goalkeeper was only tested once.

West Ham Captain Jarrod Bowen was marking 300 top-flight appearances in this game and found himself in a promising position after being set up by Konstantinos Mavropanos but his shot was blocked by visiting goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.

With the Irons having played on Monday night and the Seagulls hoping to bounce back following their home defeat to Crystal Palace a day earlier, it was perhaps not surprising that this game was slow to get going. The hosts then had a number of chances, the best of which came when Bowen sent a cross over with the aim of beating the Dutch stopper but a deflection off visiting Captain Lewis Dunk helped the ball go wide of the far post.

As the half drew to a close, Lucas Paquetá was in a great position and collected a cut-back from Palmieri, only for him to fire wildly over the crossbar. Matters got worse for Paquetá, as he was booked, meaning Lopetegui is now without his services for the Boxing Day trip to Southampton.

If the home faithful thought their side weren’t fashioning many chances, then spare a thought for those who had made the journey from Sussex. The only effort that looked like beating home goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański was from Kaoru Mitoma. The Japanese international met a cross from João Pedro but the former Watford striker’s venomous attempt was well dealt with by the Pole.

Referee Robert Jones brought the first-half to a conclusion and it might have been fair to say that both sets of supporters were expecting more from their respective teams.

In order to prevent Mavropanos from receiving another yellow card, Lopetegui wisely replaced the Greek international with Jean-Clair Todibo during the break.

This game was badly in need of someone to make the breakthrough and unfortunately for the Hammers, it was Brighton who found the opener on fifty one minutes.

Pervis Estupiñán held the ball up in the air. Both Fabiański and Dunk went for the ball but it was missed by the Pole, allowing Mats Wieffer to pick up the pieces and slam home. A VAR decision went in favour of the East Londoners last time out but on this occasion, they weren’t so lucky, as a check confirmed that Dunk was onside.

Six minutes later, the East Londoners made their second substitution, as Füllkrug was withdrawn in favour of Crysencio Summerville.

Although the change didn’t have a major impact on what happened next, The visitors’ advantage only lasted for seven minutes, as the home side were then back on level terms. A move was started by Tomáš Souček, as he spotted Bowen in space. The Captain shot straight at Verbruggen however, the Dutchman could only parry the ball into the path of Mohamed Kudus, who subsequently headed it into the net.

The majority inside the stadium were thankful to their goalkeeper for preventing Brighton substitute Yasin Ayari from restoring their lead.

The action was swinging from end-to-end by this point and it was the turn of Summerville to try his luck but unfortunately, Dunk was in the right place to block his attempt.

A double change was made by Lopetegui on seventy one minutes, as both Coufal and Scarles were sent on in place of Palmieri and Paquetá.

West Ham were then saved as Coufal was fortunate not to score an own goal when Yankuba Minteh’s cross was diverted onto his own post by the Czech.

Before he was replaced by Guido Rodríguez Edson Álvarez went close with an opportunity that would have won the game for the Hammers but unfortunately, Verbruggen managed to thwart him.

Ayari was desperate to get his name on the scoresheet but it wasn’t to be, as he was denied by Fabiański once again.

There was one more chance for the Seagulls to take the points. However, it wasn’t the goalkeeper that saved the Irons this time around but the awareness of defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who produced a vital block to preserve a point.

After picking up a point against AFC Bournemouth last time out, West Ham return to the South Coast but they will know that three points are a must at St Mary’s.