Premier League
West Ham United 0-3 Brighton & Hove Albion 

Friday, 20th October 2017
by David Fletcher

Another dismal home performance by West Ham puts the manager and the team, once again, under heavy scrutiny

A brace from Glenn Murray and a long-range curling effort from Jose Izquierdo put Brighton in a comfortable position from where they bullied their opponents to play slow unconvincing football.

The start was by no means a clear indication of what was to come. West Ham kicked off procedings with a hefty spell of possession, preventing Brighton from putting a string of passes together until the fifth minute.

Nonetheless, that was all they needed to earn a free-kick in a relatively dangerous position.

Pascal Gross stepped up and delivered a decent ball into the penalty area for Glenn Murray, who was completely unmarked, to direct the ball with ease into the bottom corner with ease.

Groans resonated around the Londom Stadium, more of the same from their team, behind at home due to poor defending and questionable goalkeeping.

However, the Hammers didn't put their head down and kept pushing. They sprung to life just shy of the half-an-hour mark with a succession of corners, yet the closest they came was from Pablo Zabaleta's clever ball that found Manuel Lanzini only for the Argentine to blast it over.

From then on, it was all doom and gloom for the home side and just before the half-time whistle, Brighton doubled their advantage.

Though it seemed Joe Hart had redeemed himself minutes earlier, when he saved a one-on-one situation when Murray was through on goal, he could only pick Izquierdo's curling effort out of the net.

The second half was more of the same. Having secured a comfortable lead, Brighton were content to sit back and soak up the pressure knowing their opponents would produce next-to-nothing with the ball.

It was the same pattern for the entirety of the second half, a slow-building West Ham attack, an abundance of meaningless square passes in the build-up and an easy Brighton clearance.

As expected, The Seagulls hit on the counter on a number of occasions before earning themselves a chance at a third from the penalty spot after a clumsy challenge by Zabaleta on Murray who successfully converted his spot kick summing up a night to forget for evrybody involved.


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Player Ratings

Joe Hart
A woeful display from what is England's best goalkeeper. Was partially at fault for each of Brighton's three goals. A soft header, a long range effort that could have easily been prevented with a strong hand and a penalty kick that went straight down the middle.


Pablo Zabaleta
Had a decent first half delivering quality crosses and covering a huge amount of ground despite being in the twilight of his career. A poor challenge gifted Brighton their third, however the game was out of their hands by then.


Arthur Masuaku
Little profit on the left.


Winston Reid
All over the place. Usually a very consistent defender, but was anything but on Friday night. Poor marking and atrocious tackling.


Jose Fonte
Didn't do much wrong, but neither did much right either. Too many square passes going forward and poor communication with Winston Reid on set pieces.


Cheikhou Kouyate
Brought off at half time in favour of a more attacking-minded player in an attempt of a fightback.


Marko Arnautovic
A shocking performance from our "star" player. Walking around he pitch and showing no interest whatsoever.


Manuel Lanzini
Miles away from what he has been in the last two seasons. Poor passes and lack of skill.


Michail Antonio
Looked bright early on but lost his touch as the game wore on as did everybody else.


Javier Hernandez
about poor service but made little effort to get involved and put things right.


Pedro Obiang
Very mediocre. Made a few intelligent passes but provided precious little for the attacking players.



Substitutes

Andre Ayew
(Replaced Kouyate) Came on when everybody had lost interest.


Edimilson Fernandes
(Replaced Arnautovic) Like the XI who started, he failed to make much of an impact.


Arthur Masuaku
No comments.


Adrian San Miguel Del Castillo
Did not play.


Aaron Cresswell
Did not play.


Angelo Ogbonna
Did not play.


Mark Noble
Did not play.



Match Facts

West Ham United: Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, Arthur Masuaku, Winston Reid, Jose Fonte, Cheikhou Kouyate, Marko Arnautovic, Manuel Lanzini, Michail Antonio, Javier Hernandez, Pedro Obiang .

Goals: None.

Booked: Javier Hernandez           .

Sent off: None.

Brighton & Hove Albion: Ryan, Bruno (c), Bong, Dunk, Stephens, Knockaert (Schelotto 84’), Gross (Brown 77’), Murray, Izquierdo (March 69’), Duffy, Propper .

Subs not used: Krul, Goldson, Suttner, Molumby.

Goals: Murray 10, 75 (pen), Izquierdo 45 +1 .

Booked: .

Sent off: None.

Referee: Stuart Atwell.

Attendance: 0.

Man of the Match: Pablo Zabaleta .