Brighton and Hove Albion vs West Ham United. Premier League.
Amex StadiumAttendance31,604.
Match report and highlights as West Ham miss out on sixth place and the Europa League while Brighton finish ninth
Sunday 22 May 2022 19:25, UK
West Ham missed out on securing a Europa League place following a 3-1 defeat at Brighton despite Manchester United slipping up against Crystal Palace.
The Hammers needed to win and hope United didn't in order to secure sixth place but even though Palace won 1-0, David Moyes' side will have to settle for the Europa Conference League after failing to do their bit.
Michail Antonio put West Ham in front before the break with a wonderful strike that found the top corner, although Brighton hit back through defender Joel Veltman just five minutes into the second period.
Then Pascal Gross matched Antonio's strike with a superb effort of his own which flew high into the net, before Danny Welbeck's injury-time header wrapped up the points and Brighton's best-ever Premier League finish.
The hosts started brightly, enjoying 69 per cent of possession in the opening 15 minutes and seeing Moises Caicedo force Lukasz Fabianski into a smart save down to his left.
West Ham slowly worked their way into the game, eventually having more of the ball themselves but unable to trouble the Brighton goal until Antonio produced a wonderful goal out of nothing.
The away fans had only just finished celebrating Crystal Palace going ahead against Manchester United before Antonio got the better of Lewis Dunk on the edge of the Brighton area and sent a wonderful left-footed shot into the top corner.
Brighton, though, hit back just five minutes into the second half, this time capitalising on another slow start from the visitors. Solly March brought down a cross inside the West Ham area and teed up Veltman, whose low drive squirmed under the body of Fabianski.
The hosts then had the chance to lead as Welbeck sent an effort wide from a tight angle following tidy build-up play between Cucurella and Alexis Mac Allister.
West Ham steadied themselves yet never came close to scoring with Mark Noble introduced nine minutes from time for his final appearance for the club. Brighton showed their quality as Gross swivelled on the edge of the area and fired a superb strike into the top corner to give them the lead.
Only Norwich (12) had scored fewer home goals than Brighton, but Welbeck made sure they wouldn't set a new club record for fewest home goals scored by heading in from a corner during injury time.
Brighton head coach Graham Potter: "I'm incredibly proud, it's been a fantastic group to work with, everybody behind the scenes. It's amazing for us to finish where we have.
"It hasn't been straightforward, ups and downs, but we stuck together and we can be really proud of what we've done.
"We were disappointed at half-time, didn't play to the level I think we can. A couple of adjustments and the boys were fantastic in the second half, got on the front foot a bit more and created chances. To score three goals coming back from a goal down is brilliant. It sums up their character and spirit."
West Ham manager David Moyes: "We're pleased with how the players performed throughout the season so, disappointed today. We didn't play well, especially in the second half, but the players have done really well this year.
"You want the players to be tougher than that, we've had a lot of resilience through the year and we didn't show that in the second half when we were 1-0 up.
"We had a great chance of winning today and put ourselves in a great chance of winning but, unlike us, we didn't fulfil that and follow it through."
Brighton ended the Premier League season with 51 points, their best-ever total in the competition and second only to their 52-point haul in the top-flight in 1981-82 (3pts for a win) when they played 42 games.
Michail Antonio (via his first-ever goal scored from outside the box for West Ham) is the first player to hit double figures in three consecutive top-flight seasons for the Hammers since Tony Cottee (five between 1983-84 and 1987-88), with the striker also the first player to hit 10+ goals in three Premier League campaigns for the club (10 in each of the last three seasons).
Pascal Groß netted his 17th Premier League goal for Brighton, with his tally of 44 goal involvements in the competition (17 goals, 27 assists) 11 more than any other player for the Seagulls (Maupay on 33).
