Brighton 1 West Ham 3
Roberto De Zerbi’s side went into this game on the back of two impressive wins as they welcomed West Ham to the Amex Stadium, who themselves had just beaten Chelsea in their previous game.
Brighton seemed to be continuing the form they showed last season as they secured European football for the first time in the club’s history, with many believing they could have finished in the top four if their form had not dipped in the final few games of the campaign.
The visitors were looking to claim their first win against The Seagulls in the Premier League era, at the thirteenth time of asking, and started on the front foot with a long throw in being flicked on by Antonio. It found Paqueta at the back post but he fired well wide.
Like two boxers exchanging jabs in the early stages of a fight, De Zerbi’s side then fashioned their first chance when Gilmour struck narrowly wide from the edge of the box with Areola seemingly beaten. The midfielder is one of the answers to the hardest question in football, name all the youth products from Chelsea who they failed to keep at the club.
Credit: @WestHam
New West Ham signing, James Ward-Prowse, then seemed to hit a somewhat hopeful ball forward but the strength of Antonio gave Webster problems and the striker squared the ball for Ward-Prowse to slot home at the second time of asking for his first Hammers’ goal.
The goal seemed to shock the home faithful but they nearly equalised immediately when a mixture of Gilmour and Welbeck found Ferguson who swivelled neatly in the box and got a shot away, only for Areola to make an impressive save in the bottom corner of the goal.
As the second-half got underway, the dangerous Mitoma was creating problems on the left and his pinpoint cross found Ferguson in the box, whose header was spectacularly saved by Areola. The Brighton winger is proving to be the most dangerous export from Japan since the samurai sword and rarely fails to impress.
Whatever Roberto De Zerbi said at half-time seemed to be working as wave after wave of Brighton attack had West Ham battening down the hatches. Estupinan strode into box and went down under the challenge of Paqueta but referee Anthony Taylor was not interested at all and like all good wingmen VAR stuck by their mate.
Officials and the VAR process seem to be getting more airtime than Phillip Schofield in his prime but trying to work out their thought process is more difficult than getting them to apply the laws of the game currently.
What makes matters worse is not so much the poor decisions but knowing that we will have to endure the dulcet tones of the likes of Howard Webb, Dermot Gallagher and Mike Dean trying to justify why it is acceptable to be incompetent at your job.
Credit: @WestHam
The Hammers managed a rare break on the counter-attack and Benrahma managed to find Bowen in a good position but for once the winger was not on fire but apparently things are still good with him and Dani Dyer thankfully.
Antonio seems to be doing so much more work off the ball this season, getting back to defend and on this occasion robbed the hosts of possession in his own half. He threaded a pass down the line to Benrahma, who played a sublime clipped ball to the back post where Bowen took one touch to steady himself, before poking it into the bottom corner.
It was almost a carbon-copy of the previous attack but clinically finished by the visitors as they extended their lead to two goals, leaving the home fans more shocked than having found out that prodigal son Fatboy Slim was actually born in Bromley.
Things went from bad to worse when Bowen controlled the ball on the far touchline, playing a pass into the feet of Antonio , who shrugged off Webster like he was a Chelsea defender and slammed the ball into the bottom corner.
David Moyes’ side were disposing of The Seagulls with the killer-instinct of a hawk and the Amex Stadium was silent apart from the away end where the Londoners were making themselves heard as they enjoyed their day out at the seaside.
The form of Jarrod Bowen this season must be a double-edged sword for ex-Queen Vic landlord Danny Dyer. A die-hard Hammers’ fan that he is, every time Bowen is involved in a goal it spurs the West Ham fans to sing about what his daughter is doing in her bedroom most nights.
It became end-to-end stuff as Brighton refused to lay down and were bringing some great stops out of Areola, showing why he has managed to dislodge Fabianski as the number one in East London. The French keeper was finally beaten by a long-range effort from Gross, which nestled in the bottom corner to a muted celebration from the home fans.
It could have been so different as The Seagulls came forward once again but efforts from Pascal Gross and Evan Ferguson just brought the best out of Alphonse Areola in the visitors’ goal. Brighton had 80% possession in this game and will feel hard done by with the scoreline.
David Moyes was receiving a lot of criticism from The Hammers’ fans before the season started for his lack of transfer activity but with the start they have made to the season, do not be surprised to see shrines of the ginger-headed genius in East London front rooms right now.
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