West Ham and Brighton played out a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium in a result that suited neither side.
West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui will be delighted his team fought back to earn a point thanks to Mohammed Kudus’ well-taken goal just before the hour mark.
It means the Hammers have now gone unbeaten in three successive Premier League games for the first time this season, although the Basque may also feel this was an opportunity missed to claim all three points against a lacklustre Brighton and pull further away from the drop zone.
West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus (left) celebrates scoring their equaliser with Crysencio Summerville
As for the visitors, Fabian Hurzeler’s side worked hard to get themselves in front when Mats Wieffer fired into a gaping goal after Lukasz Fabianski dropped Pervis Estupinan’s high cross at his feet under pressure from Lewis Dunk, with the strike eventually given after a VAR review for offside.
But they could only hold the lead for seven minutes and have now gone five league matches without a win, with only Southampton currently on a longer such run, to slip from second down to ninth in the table.
Mats Wieffer (centre) celebrates with team-mates after scoring his side’s first goal of the game
Brighton did go desperately close to scoring a winner as the visitors woke up late on, only for Kaoru Mitoma’s effort to hit the post, although they also were perhaps fortunate not to see Estupinan sent off for a heavy tackle on Max Kilman.
Meanwhile, the point sees Lopetegui’s team stay in 14th place in what has been a testing few days for the Hammers boss after the recent death of his father.
What the managers said…
West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui:
“It’s true that now he’s [Niclas Fullkrug] not in his best way. But it’s true that he needs minutes to achieve this level that we need.
“I think that when he’s going to be better, he’s going to last more. It’s about the minutes, about the matches, the way to recover his best.
“Sometimes, knowing that the player is not in his best way, you need to put him in to play, because we think that we are going to need him in his best way.”
West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen (left) and Brighton’s Pervis Estupinan battle for the ball
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler:
“There were plenty of chances to win this game, and in the end we weren’t able to score, so it’s our fault, our responsibility, that we don’t leave the pitch as a winner.
“I think there were several good blocks by the players from West Ham. But sometimes we weren’t clinical, not clean enough, not precise enough, without finishing with our first touch. That’s something we have to work on.”
Kudus key to West Ham revival
Analysis by Sky Sports’ Richard Morgan:
“West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui was purring post match about Mohammed Kudus’s electric display in the draw with Brighton, secured thanks to the Ghana international’s well-taken header which means he has now either scored (two) or assisted (one) a goal in each of his last three Premier League appearances at the London Stadium.
“Not surprisingly, Lopetegui was more keen to highlight Kudus’s ‘improving’ defensive contributions to his side’s hard-earned point, although it was in attack where he really caught the eye, with him and Jarrod Bowen – on the opposite flank – the Hammers’ most dangerous outlets going forward throughout the afternoon.
“The duo combined for the hosts’ equaliser and are surely key to any hopes Lopetegui may have of continuing West Ham’s recent mini revival and maybe even competing for a European place in the second half of the season.”
