Unusually devoid of creativity, Brighton were imprisoned within Nuno Espírito Santo’s tactical cage. Jarrod Bowen, West Ham’s talisman, had executed perfectly his manager’s counter‑attacking strategy. Nuno’s team were fighting their way towards safety, with three points appearing to be heading back to London.
Nuno’s plan was coming together so well that Bowen’s goal had been supplied by Callum Wilson, a substitute on the field for just 51 seconds. Yet the masterplan fell short. The Amex Stadium, home of late goals, staged another, Georginio Rutter squeezing in a stoppage-time equaliser for his first goal of the season to complete the type of madcap scramble commonplace at Brighton.
Before that timely late surge, Brighton had not landed a shot on target. Ambitions of returning to the European stage are being hindered by the inconsistency shown by Aston Villa’s comeback in midweek. West Ham’s horizons are significantly lower. Leeds’s recent form has deepened relegation worries and Rutter’s goal meant the three‑point gap to Daniel Farke’s team had only one chiselled from it. “We did so much to get into the lead,” Bowen said. “But we sat back too far and invited the pressure.”
Nuno, unhappy that a handball by Rutter within the decisive scramble had been passed over by the video assistant referee, said: “We contained them, then we scored, and we tried to close out the game but unfortunately we couldn’t.” At least the West Ham team he inherited – shapeless, hopeless, rudderless – are playing for him.
Amid a horrible swirl of wind and rain that appeared to be keeping spectators from the Amex’s lower tiers, West Ham adopted Nuno’s trademark low block, thwarting their opponents’ speed in transition. Bowen, Lucas Paquetá and Crysencio Summerville were meanwhile asked to chase long balls out of defence. With none of that trio as adept as Wilson at holding up the ball, the passing of Paquetá, back after suspension following his tantrum, was the weapon of choice.
Fabian Hürzeler said of his Brighton team: “We wanted more definitely, but in the end we didn’t deserve more because we didn’t play with energy and intensity in the first half.” Amid the hosts’ slim pickings of the first 45 minutes, the closest they came was Maxim De Cuyper almost emulating Bruno Guimarães in scoring from a corner. Worsening weather played its part in Mats Wieffer missing a more genuine chance, De Cuyper’s cross skidding from the mud beyond reach when any touch would have done.
When Paquetá’s low shot tested Bart Verbruggen for a first proper West Ham attempt, it suggested Nuno’s strategy could pay off. The grimmer that conditions became, the more likely a mistake or deflection would result in a goal. Half-time arrived as respite from wholly missable fare.
With El Hadji Malick Diouf blocking off the speed of Yankuba Minteh down the flank, Summerville and Bowen began to grow in threat and Verbruggen, left unprotected, was asked to make a brilliant double save from Bowen’s grubber and Summerville’s volley.
Carlos Baleba departed on the hour. Concerns continue over the prized asset’s ability to complete a full 90 minutes, as Hürzeler sought a control of midfield that would not arrive until the fourth official was preparing to display the stoppage time allowance. Minteh blasted wide – his shot selection is often wayward – for his last participation in the game, amid changes from both managers that brought Wilson into West Ham’s forward line, and Brajan Gruda and Charalampos Kostoulas into Brighton’s.
Those alterations immediately preceded West Ham’s goal as Wilson pounced on Jan Paul van Hecke’s mistake to send away Bowen. “We deserved to concede a goal and we reacted well,” Hürzeler said.
Late goals being habitual at the Amex Stadium kept home supporters, previously quiet, expectant that their team could find some way back. “They have scored lots of late goals against us in the past,” Bowen said.
Prior experience failed to preserve the three points. Alphonse Areola, previously all but decommissioned, made a fine save from Kostoulas but, as tired defenders slackened concentration, the Hammers goalkeeper was left unprotected from Rutter’s initial shot, before Van Hecke, calm amid the squall, laid the ball laterally for Rutter to crash in.
The hint of handball and flailing high feet, plus a lengthy VAR wait, gave false hope to West Ham. “A natural position,” according to Stockley Park. “I was confused and scared about the VAR,” Rutter said.
Nuno said: “It’s a handball … I don’t understand,” lamenting his winning strategy being squandered by fortune and fatigue.
