The Media Review: Georginio snatches point against West Ham

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The media reflects on a particularly wet day on the south coast as Albion drew 1-1 with West Ham.

Nick Szczepanik

2025-12-08T09:50+00:00

Babis Kostoulas vents his frustration after blazing over. 📷 by BHAFC.

If there is one thing football reporters dislike, it is a late goal that requires swift re-writing of that carefully-crafted intro.

Albion have been as guilty as any team of inflicting such last-gasp dramas on the inmates of the press box and on Sunday they did it again as Georginio Rutter’s equaliser changed the narrative of the match against West Ham United.

You got the feeling that many of the regular visitors to the Amex have almost come to expect it. James Sharpe of The Daily Mail, for example, wrote: “Just when you think you’ve got them, Brighton find a way to squirm from your grasp. Just when Jarrod Bowen’s neat finish after a blistering counter-attack looked to have secured Nuno Espirito Santo his first away win as West Ham manager, one that would have lifted them out of the relegation zone, Georginio Rutter had other ideas.

“After seeing his first effort saved by Alphonse Areola in the first minute of second-half stoppage time, the Frenchman found the ball back at his feet, after Brighton defender Jan Paul van Hecke picked up the rebound, and blasted it into the corner for his first goal of the season and sparked bedlam on the south coast.

“An 11th goal of the season scored in the final 15 minutes of a game for Brighton, the joint-most of any side, and an 11th point gained from a losing position to keep them in the mix for the European places. They had done it again.

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“Amid all the chaos and celebrations, West Ham were apoplectic that the goal was allowed to stand as a first clean sheet under Nuno evaporated into thin air.

“As the ball arced into the West Ham box on its way to the equaliser, Brighton substitute Charalampos Kostoulas’s overhead kick connected with the ball – and West Ham defender Kostantinos Mavropanos’s head – on its way towards Rutter. It then struck Rutter’s arm before he unleashed his first shot.

“VAR Tony Harrington checked both. The high boot was deemed not dangerous play and the handball accidental. Because Rutter did not score immediately after it hit his arm, the goal stood.”

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Albion left it late to breach the West Ham United defence. Georginio Rutter reacted quickest to fire home the loose ball after a blocked shot from Jan Paul van Hecke and an overhead effort by Babis Kostoulas. Club photographers Paul Hazlewood and James Boardman were at the Amex to capture all the action on a wet and windy Sunday afternoon.

Thom Gibbs of The Daily Telegraph might not have been the only onlooker who thought that fortune had favoured Fabian Hurzeler’s men.

“Just as their season looked like suffering its first real wobble, Brighton were saved,” he wrote. “First by Georginio Rutter, then a generous VAR ruling, which saw no issue with a potential handball or dangerously high boot in the moments preceding his equaliser. Brighton’s fans celebrated with a mixture of release and relief. They knew they had got away with one here.

“Another loss would have been two in a row after a streak of 10 at home without defeat. Defeat was probably what they deserved, but Rutter kept his head to finish as a late flurry of chances finally overwhelmed West Ham’s resistance, and Alphonse Areola’s increasingly desperate saves.

“Jarrod Bowen had a quiet first half but enlivened the second with a fabulous run, beating four defenders before drawing an equally impressive save from Verbruggen, who then found another to tip over Cyrencio Summerville’s volley. Brighton have half a team out injured, but were a long way from their frantic best.

“The game kicked off in the last of the morning’s inescapable drizzle, the sort of British misery which makes the Premier League’s presentational bombast look quite foolish. You can play Blur’s Song 2 as many times as you fancy and launch all of the usual handshake fireworks. No one is ever truly pumped for anything in these conditions. A 0-0 score at half time was a fair representation of the game’s quality.”

Justin Allen of The Sun pointed out the apparent inconsistency of the present handball law. “Georginio Rutter scored a controversial stoppage-time leveller to rescue a point and leave West Ham fuming,” he wrote.

“The ball struck the striker’s arm after it bounced off his knee before he saw an initial shot saved by keeper Alphonse Areola – and then converted when he got a second bite of the cherry seconds later.

Bart Verbruggen pulled off a number of terrific stops during our 1-1 draw with West Ham.

“But VAR deemed that the ball hitting his arm was not the decisive action that led to him scoring and allowed it to stand.

“It seemed a crazy decision – because had Areola let the initial shot in it would have been ruled out.

“West Ham had looked set to stage a smash-and-grab win after Jarrod Bowen scored a brilliant goal with 17 minutes left that looked to have got them out of the bottom three.

“But the West Ham goal lived a charmed life moments later when Wieffer’s pass took a wild deflection off the back of Max Kilman’s foot.

“And Rutter’s goal burst their bubbles although Konstantinos Mavropanos almost snatched victory but headed wide at the death.”

World class from Bart! 🧤 @MonsterEnergy ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/3eAElNqBoE
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) December 8, 2025

On the BBC website, Charlotte Coates suggested that she had expected Albion to gate-crash the Champions League positions.

“With Chelsea dropping points in their goalless draw at Bournemouth yesterday, this seemed like the perfect opportunity for Brighton to close in on the top four,” she wrote.

“But it wasn't to be for Fabian Hurzeler's men, who largely looked devoid of creativity after losing a 4-3 thriller to Aston Villa on Wednesday.

“In wet and windy weather on the south coast, Brighton failed to manage a shot on target in the opening 70 minutes.

“It took Bowen's opener to wake them up - and although Hurzeler will be pleased with his side's response after falling behind, he may well feel frustrated they could not capitalise on Chelsea's stumble.”