West Ham were four minutes away from snapping their six-game winless skid, before Kaoru Mitoma and Carlos Baleba each scored at the very end to give Brighton a 3-2 victory at Amex Stadium on Saturday and snap their own five-game winless run.
WATCH – Brighton v West Ham full match replay
The win sends Brighton (51 points) up to 9th in the Premier League table, still very much in the race for European qualification, level on points with 8th-place Fulham with four games left to play. West Ham (36 points), meanwhile, remain stuck in 17th, 15 points clear of the relegation zone, which is now officially confirmed, but still very much a disastrous season for a side that has spent like a top-half of European contender themselves.
Yasin Ayari opened the scoring and bagged his first PL goal with a curling beauty from close to 25 yards out in the 13th minute. West Ham hardly threatened in the first half but were level just three minutes after the break as Mohammed Kudus got on the end of Jarrod Bowen’s pass and squeezed the ball through Bart Verbruggen’s legs in the 48th.
Bowen set up West Ham’s second goal as well, curling a cross to the back post for Tomas Soucek to fling his body parallel to the ground and thump a header home for a 2-1 lead after 83 minutes. Alas, the Hammers have been woeful in defense this season (58 goals conceded in 34 games) and they came with nothing to show for 88 minutes of good football. Brojan Gruda teed up the equalizer with one header and Mitoma turned it home with another in the 89th minute, and Baleba brought the house down with a big dipping, swerving strike from 30 yards in stoppage time.
No silver linings in sight for West Ham
West Ham have only scored two or more goals in a game four times since Graham Potter took over on Jan. 9 (14 games), which isn’t great. What’s even worse is that they have now blown a late lead on each of the last two occasions — at least last time they still got a point against Bournemouth. When a team struggles to score goals the way that West Ham have this season (39 in 34 games), they have to make the absolute most of those rare instances when the attack actually produces. Then again, two clean sheets in 14 games is even more concerning, so it’s hard to expect anything more at this point.
Player ratings - Brighton vs West Ham
What’s next?
- West Ham vs Tottenham Hotspur — Sunday, 9 am ET
- Brighton vs Newcastle — Sunday, 9 am ET
Brighton vs West Ham live updates - by Andy Edwards
Brighton vs West Ham final score: 3-2
Goalscorers: Yasin Ayari (13'), Mohammed Kudus (48'), Tomas Soucek (83'), Koaru Mitoma (89'), Carlos Baleba (90'+2)
GOAL! Brighton 3-2 West Ham: Baleba wins it in stoppage time with a stunning curler (90'+2)
GOAL! Brighton 2-2 West Ham: Mitoma heads home from close range (89')
GOAL! Brighton 1-2 West Ham: Soucek heads home at the back post (83')
GOAL! Brighton 1-1 West Ham: Kudus puts it through Verbruggen’s legs (48')
GOAL! Brighton 1-0 West Ham: Ayari curls a beauty into the top corner (13')
Brighton starting lineup
Verbruggen - Wieffer, Dunk, Baleba, Estupinan - Hinshelwood, Ayari, O’Riley - March, Adingra, Welbeck
West Ham starting lineup
Areola - Todibo, Mavropanos, Kilman - Wan-Bissaka, Ward-Prowse, Soucek, Paqueta, Emerson - Bowen, Kudus
How to watch Brighton vs West Ham live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 10 am ET Saturday
Venue: Amex Stadium — Brighton
TV Channel: Peacock
Streaming: Watch live on Peacock
West Ham’s results since Potter arrived on Jan. 9 (3W-4D-6L) put them 17th in the Premier League form table, which is exactly where the Hammers currently reside in the overall table with five games left to play. It’s been a miserable season for West Ham, first under Julen Lopetegui and still now under Potter, without many, if any, silver linings. 5th-fewest goals scored (37 in 33 games), 5th-most goals conceded (55), 4th-worst goal difference (-18) and 4th from bottom in the table — that about sums it up, not to mention the current six-game winless skid.
Though Brighton sit in the top half of the table (10th, two points above Brentford), things aren’t much better at present for the Seagulls. Five games without a win, 13 goals conceded in that time and a player sent off in two of their last three games (leading scorer Joao Pedro is suspended on Saturday after kicking out at Brentford defender Nathan Collins in a 4-2 loss last weekend). Center back Jan Paul van Hecke, along with six other first-team regulars, is also set to miss the game against West Ham after he was stretchered off with a head injury in the final seconds of the defeat to Brentford, leaving first-year boss Fabian Hurzler short on both quality and depth. Brighton have endured winless runs of four, five and eight games at different times this season, leading to one or two questions about Hurzler’s position this summer.
Brighton team news
OUT: Joao Pedro (suspension), Jan Paul van Hecke (head), Ferdi Kadioglu (toe), Georginio Rutter (ankle), Adam Webster (thigh), Igor Julio (hamstring), Jason Steele (shoulder), James Milner (thigh) | QUESTIONABLE: Tariq Lamptey (ankle)
West Ham team news
OUT: Evan Ferguson (loan - parent club), Michail Antonio (MORE), Crysencio Summerville (hamstring) | QUESTIONABLE: Edson Alvarez (lower back), Aaron Cresswell (muscular), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (foot)
Brighton vs West Ham prediction
A set-piece goal (or two) for West Ham before a furious, late comeback by the hosts falls just short. Brighton 1-2 West Ham.
