West Ham United 2 Brighton and Hove Albion 2
Brighton and Hove Albion came back from behind twice to rescue a point against West Ham United at the London Stadium this evening (Tuesday 30 December).
The Hammers were unable to grasp a lifeline as their relegation woes deepen while Brighton chased the game, as they did at the Amex earlier this month, unable to stem a run of six games without a win.
It was a breathless contest and, when West Ham were 2-1 up, Nottingham Forest were losing to Everton, meaning the Hammers could have cut the gap to safety to just two points.
And given that Forest are the next visitors to the London Stadium, West Ham’s prospects would have suddenly much brighter.
But Joel Veltman scrambled home an equaliser to leave the Hammers still in deep trouble and still never having managed to beat Brighton at home in nine Premier League meetings.
Earlier, Danny Welbeck scored one penalty and missed another. And Lucas Paqueta gave away one penalty and scored another. It was that sort of evening.
By the final whistle, both teams had ended December without registering a single win.
West Ham went in front after 10 minutes with their first attack of the match when Jarrod Bowen chased Paqueta’s ball over the top and outpaced Brighton’s defence before slotting past goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.
They almost doubled their lead when young left-back Ollie Scarles, who was in tears after his mistake gifted Fulham a late winner on Saturday, jinked into the area only to drag his shot wide.
But Brighton hauled themselves level on the half-hour after Max Kilman’s clumsy challenge wiped out Yankuba Minteh in the area, with Welbeck sending Alphonse Areola the wrong way from the penalty spot.
If that was bad defending from West Ham, the next piece was downright bizarre as, from a corner, Paqueta’s rugby tackle on Lewis Dunk prompted referee Michael Salisbury to point to the spot again.
Welbeck stepped up once more and duly beat Areola again but, this time, his “Panenka” style effort came back off the crossbar.
The next penalty drama came as an eventful first half moved into stoppage time, with Dunk blocking a goalbound Callum Wilson shot.
Replays showed that the ball hit the Seagulls defender’s arm. It was away from his body and, after a lengthy VAR check, the ref awarded the spot-kick.
Paqueta, clearly wanting to atone for his aberration at the other end, took responsibility and, when Verbruggen dived one way, the Brazilian rolled the ball into the opposite corner.
After the break another VAR check, when Brighton substitute Kaoru Mitoma went down under Bowen’s challenge, proved fruitless for the visitors.
But they scored from the resulting corner when Areola’s punch landed at the feet of the unmarked Veltman for a simple finish.
Moments later Verbruggen made a crucial save, diving to his left to keep out a glancing Bowen header from Scarles’s free-kick.
Things could have been worse for West Ham but Areola managed to fend off shots from Ferdi Kadioglu, Georginio Rutter and Mitoma to ensure they at least salvaged a point.
