The Media Review: Albion draw against the Irons

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Albion drew with West Ham on Tuesday night.

Nick Szczepanik

2025-12-31T00:00+00:00

Joel Veltman scored his first goal of the season in the 2-2 draw with the Irons. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

An entertaining game of four goals and three penalties but without a conclusive result in either team’s favour left the reporters in the London Stadium press box undecided as to the best opening line. West Ham woe, perhaps? Spot kick drama?

Justin Allen of The Sun won the hearts of Albion-supporting readers by making his first words the name of the man who ended up having the last word.

“Joel Veltman punished a goalkeeping howler from Alphonse Areola to snatch a point for Brighton and leave West Ham firmly rooted in the bottom three,” he wrote.

“Jarrod Bowen swept the Hammers into a 10th-minute lead but Max Kilman undid that with a rash tackle taking out Yankuba Minteh, allowing Danny Welbeck to slot home a 32nd-minute penalty.

Danny Welbeck's Panenka penalty struck the crossbar. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

“Welbeck stepped up and sent Areola the wrong way – putting it in the bottom left corner.

“And five minutes later Paqueta rugby-tackled off the ball Dunk as Brighton took a corner.

“It was a blatant penalty and yet again the Brazilian was at the centre of an astonishing moment of complete insanity. Yet Welbeck, attempting a Panenka, struck the bar.

“Wilson was fuming after ref Michael Salisbury failed to spot his shot clearly striking the right arm of Dunk.

“But VAR asked Salisbury to watch it back again on the monitor and he duly awarded it.

“Paqueta rolled the ball into the bottom right corner after sending Verbruggen the wrong way.

“The Brazilian was only the second player to score from the spot and concede in the opening 45 minutes after Craig Gardner for Sunderland against Fulham in March 2013.

“And it was only the second time in Prem history that three penalties had been awarded in the first half — after Fulham v Bolton in August 2002.

“Brighton were back on terms after yet another calamitous West Ham moment 16 minutes into the second half.

“Areola flapped at a corner and Veltman could not believe his luck, turning the ball home at the far post.”

A number of papers and websites turned to Andy Sims’ report for the Press Association, which opened with the implications of the result for the relegation picture.

“West Ham were unable to grab a relegation lifeline after they were held to a 2-2 draw in a breathless contest against bogey side Brighton,” he wrote.

“The Hammers were leading 2-1 and, with Nottingham Forest losing against Everton, could have cut the gap to safety to just two points.

“Given that Forest are the next visitors to the London Stadium, West Ham's prospects would have suddenly looked a lot brighter.

“But Joel Veltman scrambled home an equaliser to leave the Hammers still in deep trouble and in possession of a remarkable record of still having never managed to beat Brighton at home, in what now is nine Premier League meetings.”

Joel Veltman volleyed in from close range to equalise against the Irons. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

Ben Bloom of The Guardian led on the two teams’ hapless recent run of results.

“So December comes and goes without a single victory for West Ham or Brighton,” he wrote. “12 matches played between them, but only occasional draws to show for their endeavours.

“Not that this meeting of the winless was short on entertainment. As only the second ever Premier League game to see three first-half penalties awarded, there was drama aplenty for anyone without a vested interest.

“But this draw does little to help either side. While Brighton are becoming increasingly well acquainted with the bottom half of the table, West Ham fans fear relegation more with each passing week.

“Nuno Espírito Santo’s side have now gone eight Premier League games since their last victory and they were clinging on to a point after twice seeing their lead disappear when Danny Welbeck and Joël Veltman cancelled out goals from Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paquetá.

Joel's first goal of the year on the penultimate day of 2⃣0⃣2⃣5⃣! 😅

Highlights in partnership with @MPBcom. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/bJBTgesuId
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) December 31, 2025

“The visitors pushed hard in the final stages for the three points, with Areola producing fine saves to keep out dangerous efforts from Mitoma and Rutter, and Konstantinos Mavropanos heading away from under his own bar.

“By the final whistle, Jan Paul van Hecke was the only starting Brighton outfielder not to have attempted a shot. But the visitors could not find a winner.”

Of that late Albion siege of the West Ham goal, James Sharpe of The Daily Mail noted that, “with his side a goal down, Fabian Hurzeler brought on Kaora Mitoma and Brajan Gruda. Two minutes later they were level. With the game in the balance in the final stages, Nuno brought on an 18-year-old Ezra Mayers and a 20-year-old Mohamadou Kante.

“Wilson, 33, is his only striker now Nicolas Fullkrug is off to AC Milan. The fans booed when Wilson was taken off after the hour and again when Paqueta hobbled off late on. Hurzeler could turn to quality. Nuno had to turn to kids."

Alex Brotherton of the BBC Sport website pinpointed some Albion problems before finding some crumbs of comfort, however.

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Danny Welbeck and Joel Veltman scored to give Albion a share of the points against West Ham United in the capital. Club photographer Paul Hazlewood was in London to capture all the action.

“Though they are not in the relegation zone like West Ham, Brighton's own winless run has extended to six games.

“After winning three of four matches in November, Brighton failed to win a Premier League game in December for the second season in a row since Fabian Hurzeler joined the club in 2024.

“Conceding early goals is clearly an issue - only Burnley (18) and Wolves (16) have conceded more in the first half of Premier League games than Brighton (15) this term.

“Top scorer Diego Gomez had a quiet evening as he again failed to find the net in back-to-back games, but Mitoma looked sharp off the bench after recovering from illness.

“As full-time approached he played a delightful one-two with fellow substitute Rutter before producing a curling effort, but Areola kept out what would have been a worthy winner with a fine save.

“Perhaps a draw was to be expected - four of the past five meetings between West Ham and Brighton ended that way.”