West Ham 1-1 Brighton: Neal Maupay scores late equaliser after early Tomas Soucek goal for the Hammers
- Published
- comments
Neal Maupay's goal came after a run of seven games without scoring
Neal Maupay's acrobatic overhead kick earned Brighton a dramatic draw against West Ham at London Stadium.
The Frenchman scored in the 89th minute when the Seagulls were down to 10 men after Adam Lallana had gone off injured, with the visitors unable to make any more substitutions.
West Ham had scored after only five minutes as Pablo Fornals' superb inswinging corner was glanced in by Tomas Soucek's near-post header.
Fornals nearly doubled their advantage but his well-struck 15-yard effort hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced clear.
The Hammers thought they had a second goal when the ball crept over the line off the heel of Brighton defender Shane Duffy in a goalmouth scramble.
However, it was ruled out following a lengthy Video Assistant Referee delay as Michail Antonio was adjudged offside before the ball hit the away defender.
Despite having further chances to score a second, the Hammers could not finish the game off and were punished late on.
West Ham boss David Moyes was unhappy with the VAR decision to deny his side.
"VAR is really good and the refereeing has been really good but we do not want to get rid of goals," said Moyes.
"To rule it out and to choose to not give the goal, we're in the business to score goals, that's what people come to games for.
"I think it's so hard to call that not a goal. You have to have something clear and I didn't see a reason why that goal couldn't stand."
Moyes unhappy with disallowed Hammers goal but accepts 'fair result'
Brighton dig deep to earn point
West Ham thought they had earned their eighth win in 14 Premier League matches and remain fourth, but only one point clear of fifth-placed Arsenal, who play at Manchester United on Thursday.
But Hammers boss David Moyes will be frustrated his side did not put the game beyond Brighton's reach.
In the last 15 minutes Jarrod Bowen shot just wide and Declan Rice and Antonio were both denied by Robert Sanchez before the visitors levelled.
For Brighton, it was a hard-earned point, although they have still not won since 22 September, a run now at 10 games.
They handed a first Premier League start to 19-year-old Ecuador forward Jeremy Sarmiento, but the teenager only lasted 12 minutes before he picked up a hamstring problem, with centre-half Adam Webster (calf) and midfielder Lallana (thigh) also suffering injuries.
Lallana's injury came after they had made three blocks of substitutions so they played the last five minutes a player short.
Brighton's players were booed during their 0-0 home draw against Leeds on Saturday, even though the club are on course to beat the 13th place they secured in the old Division One in 1981-82, their highest ever position.
But Graham Potter was delighted with their effort and resilience on Wednesday.
'Brighton fight to the end' - Potter on 'fantastic' point
He said: "There's a really good spirit in the team and the club, we will fight until the end. We were down to 10 but still scored and the performance deserved that.
"It's a fantastic point. The trick is to turn possession into goal chances and it's not easy to do against West Ham as Soucek and Rice defend the box very well.
"You have no divine right to win matches, you have to earn them. But we're picking up points and you have to keep going on. We want to win and will try again on Saturday."
Since his Premier League debut in February 2020, only Everton's Dominic Calvert-Lewin (eight) and Crystal Palace's Christian Benteke (seven) have scored more headed goals in the competition than Tomas Soucek (six)
After West Ham's goal, the visitors had chances to equalise but Jakub Moder's shot was saved by Lukasz Fabianski before Dunk headed just wide from the resulting corner.
Immediately after the restart Solly March's deflected effort was tipped over by Fabianski with the Poland international also saving another Dunk header.
But they got their goal when a cross from substitute Tariq Lamptey found Maupay and his excellent finish secured a point.
Our coverage of your Premier League club is bigger and better than ever before - here's everything you need to know to make sure you never miss a moment
