Brighton and Hove Albion vs West Ham United. Premier League.
Amex Stadium.
Report and highlights as West Ham's hopes of a top-four finish took a massive dent but they remain in the hunt for a Europa League spot; Danny Welbeck opened the scoring before Said Benrahma curled home equaliser
Sunday 16 May 2021 06:56, UK
Said Benrahma kept West Ham in the European hunt with a late equaliser to salvage a 1-1 draw with Brighton although their hopes of top-four finish took a severe dent.
In a game short on quality, West Ham looked to have been punished for a mostly lethargic display when Danny Welbeck danced through their defence with eight minutes to play before neatly finishing past Lukasz Fabianski.
However, Benrahma sprung from the bench to curl a fantastic leveller home as the clock ticked towards stoppage time on a night where Declan Rice played 90 minutes on his return from injury.
The Hammers' hopes of finishing in the top four look slim with five points to Chelsea in fourth with just two games remaining, yet, a Europa League finish is within their sights in their remaining two games against West Brom and Southampton.
David Moyes' side knew coming into this that three wins from their last three games were a must if they had any chance of reaching the top four. It was a cagey start at the Amex though with only a Craig Dawson header from eight yards that flew well wide threatening to break the deadlock.
Jesse Lingard wasn't finding his usual pockets of space as Yves Bissouma watched him like a hawk and was booked for a naughty stud on Lingard's boot right in front of the referee.
Brighton's style of playing through the phases was easy on the eye but there was little to shout about from their front man when getting into good positions.
The best chance of the opening half fell to Pablo Fornals as the Hammers sensed an opener as the half wore on. Aaron Cresswell joined the attack down the left and found Fornals with a killer pass but his shot from 10 yards that was heading for the corner of the net was blocked away by Aaron Webster.
"It's almost like a testimonial," noted Sky Sports pundit James Collins during his half-time analysis.
Graham Potter responded by moving Alireza Jahanbakhsh further forward in the second half and the striker tested Fabianski with two well-struck efforts from the angle but the goalkeeper stood up to both.
Fabianski was beaten by Jahanbakhsh moments later from an acute angle but somehow the ball curled inches past the post when the striker had thought he had opened the scoring.
The game then slipped back into a cagey affair with West Ham not willing to commit many bodies forward and Brighton happy to move the ball across the pitch in patient fashion. Dawson sent a header wide of the post on 80 minutes with the game seemingly slipping to an unremarkable conclusion.
However, substitute Percy Tau found space in the pocket and sent a wonderful ball through to Welbeck, whose movement all night had deserved such service. He didn't disappoint with the finish either, clipping a clever strike over the helpless Fabianski.
Brighton only had eight minutes to see the game out but they've dropped the most points from losing positions this season for a reason and West Ham found a way through.
Benrahma was the man to do it, curling home a fantastic strike from the edge of the area - his first goal for the club on his 31st appearance.
It was a performance were perseverance was rewarded. Welbeck didn't stop running all night with his movement excellent at times even despite not being found by some poor approach play from his teammates. When the pass did arrive - from Tau - Welbeck was deadly with his finish, his only real chance of the net and followed up his goal in the last home game with Leeds. This was his 50th Premier League goal and there is certainly a lot of life left in him at Premier League level judged on his performances over the past eight weeks.
Potter has confirmed there is an "intention" to reward Welbeck with another deal. Now he's fit and firing, it's a no-brainer.
David Moyes said: "I thought we played very well for long periods of the game, especially first half," said Moyes.
"I thought Brighton improved in the second half, we didn't do enough in the final third. I thought our decision-making in the final third was poor.
"But overall I thought we played very well tonight. We didn't show enough quality in the pass, quite often it was the decision-making."
Graham Potter said: "I'm disappointed because we scored late and then they equalised but overall I can't complain too much about the draw. The boys gave everything against a tough opponent.
I thought they were more dangerous in the first half and we had too long out of possession and too long defending.
"But we have got better in the second half. The players responded against a team having a good season and we were perhaps the better side, I was happy with the overall performance."
Brighton are back at the Amex on Tuesday night when the champions Manchester City are in town. Meanwhile, West Ham's pursuit of a place in Europe takes them to West Brom on Wednesday night, live on Sky Sports.
