West Ham United 1-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Premier League, London Stadium, Saturday 21 December 2024, 3pm GMT
Mohammed Kudus was on target as West Ham United came from a goal down to draw 1-1 with Brighton & Hove Albion at London Stadium on Saturday.
The Irons fell behind early in the second half when Mats Wieffer fired into the bottom corner from 12 yards, but secured a point when Kudus followed in to head into the roof of the net after Bart Verbruggen had parried Jarrod Bowen’s initial shot.
Both teams then had chances to win the game late on, with both goalkeepers making vital saves, and, in the end, a share of the spoils was realistically all the Hammers’ overall performance warranted.
As it is, a point means Julen Lopetegui’s side will go into Christmas in 14th place on 20 points and hoping to add to that tally at bottom side Southampton on Boxing Day.
Prior to kick-off, London Stadium paid tribute to late Academy U15s goalkeeper Oscar Fairs, who has sadly passed away, with his family, teammates and coaches and 62,500 fans applauding in his memory.
In truth, on the shortest day of the year, the first half was short on action.
West Ham edged the number of goal attempts, but only by the odd opportunity in five, and each team only tested the opposition goalkeeper once each.
The Hammers’ best moment came in the eighth minute, when Dinos Mavropanos set Jarrod Bowen free down the right, he cut inside and Verbruggen blocked the England international’s shot at the near post.
From then on, six corners aside, the Irons failed to trouble the Belgium international, with the closest they came being when Bowen’s cross deflected off Dunk and bobbled two yards wide of the far post, while Lucas Paquetá skied Emerson’s cutback miles over the crossbar.
To further add to West Ham’s woes, Paquetá was also booked, meaning he misses the Boxing Day trip to Southampton through suspension.
At the other end, Brighton created even less. Their sole shot on target saw Kaoru Mitoma’s fierce volley from João Pedro’s lofted cross beaten away by Łukasz Fabiański.
The second half – with Jean-Clair Todibo replacing the booked Mavropanos at the break – was much more of a spectacle. However, it took Brighton opening the scoring to spring the game truly into life.
The Seagulls struck six minutes in. Fabiański and Lewis Dunk challenged for Pervis Estupiñán’s hanging cross, and the ball hit both men before dropping for Netherlands international Wieffer, who confidently fired into the bottom right-hand corner from 12 yards. A VAR review confirmed Dunk was onside and the goal was given.
West Ham’s response arrived within seven minutes, though. Tomáš Souček released Bowen through the middle, the captain fired a left-footed shot that Verbruggen could only parry and Kudus leapt high to steer his header under the crossbar, then celebrated by sitting on a custom-made stool behind the goal.
From then on, the two sides traded chances to win it, with substitutes taking centre-stage.
Fabiański made a smart save low to his right to push away a deflected effort from Brighton replacement Yasin Ayari, then West Ham sub Crysencio Summerville was denied by Dunk, before Yankuba Minteh’s cross was diverted against the inside of his own post by Vladimír Coufal.
Into the final minutes and Verbruggen went full-length to claw Edson Álvarez’s curler away, before Fabiański trumped that by keeping out another shot from Ayari, then, in added-time, Aaron Wan-Bissaka saved his side a point with a brave last-ditch clearance.
West Ham United: Fabiański, Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos (Todibo HT), Kilman, Emerson (Coufal 71), Álvarez (Rodríguez 90), Souček, Kudus, Paquetá (Scarles 71), Bowen ©, Füllkrug (Summerville 57)
Subs not used: Areola (GK), Irving, Luis Guilherme, Ings
Goal: Kudus 58
Booked: Paquetá, Mavropanos
Brighton & Hove Albion: Verbruggen, Veltman (Lamptey 67), van Hecke, Dunk ©, Estupiñán, Baleba, Gruda (Minteh 67), Wieffer (Ayari 56), Rutter (Enciso 68), Mitoma (Ferguson 85), João Pedro
Subs not used: Steele (GK), Igor Julio, O’Riley, Adringa
Goal: Wieffer 51
Booked: Veltman, Estupiñán
Referee: Robert Jones
Attendance: 62,460
