West Ham 0 Brighton 0
David Moyes’ side welcomed Brighton to the London Stadium on the back of a stunning win at The Emirates last time out. They had beaten Arsenal two-nil in their own backyard, no doubt making Roberto de Zerbi wary of what they were facing in the capital.
The hosts had the first sight of goal as Bowen did well to hold the ball up, playing in the striker role once again, before finding Benrahma. His cross to the back post was headed up in the air but Ward-Prowse met it on the volley, forcing a smart save from Steele in The Seagulls’ goal.
Brighton created their first opportunity as Gross clipped a free kick into the back post. Welbeck met it and headed it across goal, with the West Ham keeper getting a hand to it. Hinshelwood then fired in a shot which the West Ham keeper did well to save before the hosts scrambled clear.
Milner then played an inch-perfect cross into the box to find a completely unmarked Gross. He headed the ball straight at Areola, allowing The Hammers’ keeper to make a reaction save. Either side of him and the visitors would have been taking the lead.
Credit: @WestHam
De Zerbi’s side were beginning to dominate the game since the hosts’ early chance. Going into the interval level, the Italian manager must have just told his side to keep doing the same as the second half took the same shape.
Estupinan fired a shot in at goal which drew another decent save from Areola but as the ball came back out to Milner, the veteran midfielder could only blast his shot over the bar and onto the running track around the pitch.
Joao Pedro then went on a mazy run from the left wing, gliding his way into the box and the middle of the goal. As the defence opened up for him to shoot, inexplicably, he drilled his shot straight at the West Ham keeper who saved.
Just as it looked it was a matter of time before the visitors scored, David Moyes’ side managed to muster a counter-attack. As Brighton failed to deal with the danger, it deflected into the path of the usually reliable Soucek, but he skewed his shot well wide of the goal.
This game was turning into a training video of ‘how not to act in the penalty box’ as both sides demonstrated their poor finishing on the day. If you didn’t want to get hit by the ball in the ground, the safest place to stand was in the goal.
Brighton continued to come forward and as Gross challenged in the box for a header, it dropped behind him to Moder. He met it on the half volley and sent the ball sailing over the crossbar and into the stands.
Credit: @premierleague
By this stage the fans who had stayed until the end could be forgiven for thinking this was some kind of ‘hidden camera show’. Seeing how far they could push the boundaries of the ridiculous before someone cottoned on that this was a wind-up.
Lallana then picked up the ball just outside the box and drilled a shot towards the bottom corner but much to his annoyance, Areola got down well to make a one-handed save. These two sides could have stayed out on the pitch all night and not got a winner.
The points were shared and Roberto de Zerbi will be wondering how his team did not win this game. If he did not have them all in the following morning for shooting practice, we have to question the sanity of the Brighton manager.
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