West Ham players Mohammed Kudus and Crysencio Summerville celebrate their goal by sitting on top of an wooden stool in the shape of an elephantGetty Images

Mohammed Kudus and Crysencio Summerville celebrated West Ham's goal by sitting on top of a wooden stool in the shape of an elephant

Timothy Abraham
BBC Sport Journalist

Mohammed Kudus scored his third Premier League goal of the season as West Ham fought back to earn a point against Brighton at the London Stadium.

Albion went in front shortly after half-time when Mats Wieffer netted his first goal for the club.

Pervis Estupinan's high ball into the box was only half-cleared by Lukasz Fabianski, and the Dutch midfielder pounced to stab the ball home from near the penalty spot.

The Hammers got back on level terms seven minutes later when Jarrod Bowen jinked his way forward and saw his shot parried by Bart Verbruggen, with Kudus on hand to head in the rebound.

Kudus celebrated by sitting on wooden stool in the shape of an elephant.

"It's stool from Ghana. I thought, why not do something different which shows my roots and a bit of life from where I come from?" he explained afterwards.

Before kick-off, West Ham paid an emotional tribute to their academy goalkeeper Oscar Fairs, who recently died aged 15 after being diagnosed with cancer.

With Hammers boss Julen Lopetegui also attending the funeral of his father this week and Michail Antonio's involvement in a car accident still fresh in the memory, it was a particularly sombre affair in the first half.

The only real chance was a slick Brighton move that culminated in a clever dinked pass from Joao Pedro to Kaoru Mitoma, who saw his volleyed effort saved at the near post by Fabianski.

Both sides found their stride after the break and had chances to win it.

Brighton went closest when Yankuba Minteh rolled a low ball into the box, but Mitoma was unable to apply the decisive touch and hit the post from a matter of yards.

'It was a very balanced match' - Lopetegui on Brighton draw

Fullkrug fails as attacking fulcrum

In a week when reports surfaced of Niclas Fullkrug's apparent unhappiness with life at the Hammers, it was a cute psychological ploy by Lopetegui to give him a first Premier League start.

Here was a player fired up with a point to prove, you would think.

But a few flick-ons, a couple of misplaced passes and some lumbering runs were the culmination of Fullkrug's efforts during 57 largely ineffective minutes before he was hooked from the action.

The striker appears to have all the qualities needed to be a roaring success in the Premier League - but maybe in the English top flight as it was a decade or two ago, rather than this incarnation.

It might be match sharpness, but Fullkrug looked especially ponderous.

According to Opta, Fullkrug won two of his seven aerial duels against Brighton, had three touches in the opposition box and managed a solitary shot, which was off target.

A kind of souped-up version of Dean Windass, the 6ft 2in Germany international also feels a little incongruous for Lopetegui's possession-based style.

West Ham posed a greater attacking threat when Bowen moved into the centre and with the livewire Crysencio Summerville, Fullkrug's replacement, running directly at players.

In his defence, Fullkrug's time at the London Stadium since he joined from Borussia Dortmund for £27m in the summer has been blighted by injuries.

So far, he has played 165 minutes in the Premier League this season, with just two shots and one goal to his name.

West Ham have been crying out for a number nine for some time, but Fullkrug, a late bloomer with a cult appeal, has a way to go to show it's him.

Albion lack killer instinct

'Two points lost' - Hurzeler disappointed with West Ham draw

Brighton have now gone five Premier League matches without a win.

Yet there were a signs here that Fabian Hurzeler's side are working themselves back into some kind of rhythm.

The Seagulls controlled large periods of play, used the ball intelligently and looked the most likely to win it.

A lack of clinical finishing in front of goal, however, meant they had to settle for a share of the points.

The absence of experienced striker Danny Welbeck was acutely felt by Brighton.

The 34-year-old is Albion's top scorer this season with six league goals, but was absent with an ankle injury and will wince when he watches the chances squandered by Mitoma, Evan Ferguson and Yasin Ayari.

Joao Pedro also had a largely quiet game.

Having scored four times in his first six league games of the campaign, he is now without a goal in his last five.

The visiting supporters will see this as three points that got away.

Player of the match

Ł. Fabiański
7.34
1 Ł. Fabiański
7.34
20 J. Bowen
7.30
14 M. Kudus
7.27
29 A. Wan-Bissaka
7.26
26 M. Kilman
6.62
19 E. Álvarez
6.51
7 C. Summerville
6.50
28 T. Souček
6.48
33 Emerson
6.26
25 J. Todibo
6.25
57 O. Scarles
6.17
5 V. Coufal
6.12
10 Lucas Paquetá
5.86
11 N. Füllkrug
5.80
15 K. Mavropanos
5.77
24 G. Rodríguez
5.38
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