21 DECEMBER 2024
WEST HAM UNITED 1 BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION 1
at the LONDON STADIUM, EAST LONDON.
Matchday 17 saw the Albion make the short trip to East London to meet West Ham United in the Premier at the London Stadium, the game being covered by BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio Sussex Sport.
In their previous outing, the Albion had lost 1-3 at home to arch-rivals Crystal Palace in the Premier on the 15 December, in the process losing their unbeaten home record in the Premier and for their visit to West Ham, the Albion made three changes to their starting line-up from the Palace game, with Joel Veltman, Mats Wieffer and Brajan Gruda coming in for Tariq Lamptey, Yasin Ayari and Yankuba Minteh, the latter three dropping down to the substitutes bench.
Under new Head Coach Julen Lopetegui, West Ham had made a poor start to the season and last time out in the Premier had drawn 1-1 at AFC Bournemouth on the 16 December and for Albion's visit to the London Stadium, the Hammers made two changes to their starting line-up from the Bournemouth game, with Emerson Palmeiri and Niclas Fullkrug replacing Vladimir Coufal and Carlos Soler.
In their meetings in the Premier last season, the Hammers won 3-1 at the Amex on the 26 August 2023, with their goals coming from James Ward-Prowse (19m), Jarrod Bowen (58m) and MIchail Antonio (63m), whilst Albion's consolation came from Pascal Gross (81m). In the return game at the London Stadium on the 2 January 2024, the teams drew 0-0 .
A lack-lustre first-half saw the Hammers create the first opportunity when Konstantinos Mavropanos sent Jarrod Bowen clear but Albion goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen made a smart save to deny the England international. Two other Hammers efforts missed the target as Lewis Dunk deflected Bowen's cross past the post and Lucas Paqueta skied a shot yards over the Albion crossbar. The Seagulls sole response saw Joao Pedro's cross find Kaoru Mitoma whose fierce volley was beaten away by Hammers keeper Lukasz Fabianski. A first-half to forget.
Half-time 0-0.
Luckily for the fans, the second-half started brightly and on 51 minutes the Albion took the lead when Pervis Estupinan's long cross from the left fell kindly to Mats Wieffer some 12 yards out and the Dutchman;s low shot found the back of the West Ham net. It was Wieffer's first goal in the Premier for the Albion. 1-0.
Unluckily five minutes later Wieffer was injured and had to be substituted by Yasin Ayari. On 58 minutes the home side drew level as Tomas Soucek sent Bowen clear down the middle, Verbruggen made a great save to keep out Bowen's close-range shot but the rebound fell to Mohammed Kudus whose header found the back of the vacant net. 1-1.
Both sides the went for the winner, with substitute Ayari twice going close as did fellow substitute Yankuba Minteh for the Seagulls and at the other end substitute Crysencio Summerville and Edson Alvarez went close for the Hammers. In the end a draw was probably a fair result and the Albion remain unbeaten at the London Stadium.
Final-score 1-1.
Match stats:
Albion had 12 attempts at goal, with 6 on target and won 4 corners, free-kicks conceded - 20.
West Ham had 11 attempts at goal, with 4 on target and won 8 corners, free-kicks conceded - 14.
SUMMARY - Albion's fifth match on the trot without a win in the Premier. It was good to see Mats Wieffer score his first goal for the Albion but not to see him pick up an injury with five minutes of scoring. The Seagulls will have to go again when they meet Brentford at the Amex on the 27th.
Albion line-up (4-2-3-1):- Bart VERBRUGGEN; Joel VELTMAN (Tariq LAMPTEY 67), Jan Paul VAN HECKE, Lewis DUNK (Capt), Pervis ESTUPINAN; Carlos BALEBA, Mats WIEFFER (Yasin AYARI 56); Brajan GRUDA (Yankuba MINTEH 68), Joao PEDRO, Kaoru MITOMA (Evan FERGUSON 85); Georginio RUTTER (Julio ENCISO 68).
Subs not used: Jason STEELE (G/K), Igor JULIO, Matt O'RILEY, Simon ADINGRA.
West Ham United line-up( (4-1-4-1):- Lukasz FABIANSKI; Aaron WAN-BISSAKA, Konstantinos MAVROPANOS (Jean-Clair TODIBO 46), Maximilian KILMAN, Emerson PALMEIRI (Vladimir COUFAL71); Edson ALVAREZ (Guido RODRIGUEZ 90); Jarrod BOWEN (Capt), Lucas PAQUETA (Ollie SCARLES 71), Tomas SOUCEK, Mohammed KUDUS; Niclas FULLKRUG (Crysencio SUMMERVILLE 57).
Subs not used: Alphonse AREOLA (G/K), Andrew IRVING, Luis GUILHERME, Danny INGS.
Referee: Robert Jones (Merseyside).
Fourth Official: Samuel Barrott.
VAR Official: Paul Tierney.
Yellow Cards: Albion: 1 - Pervis Estupinan. West Ham: 2 - Konstantinos Mavropanos, Lucas Paqueta.
Possession: Albion - 54%. West Ham - 46%.
BBC Sport Player of the Match: Lukasz Fabianski (West Ham).
Attendance: 62460.