The Media Review: A point at the London Stadium

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Nick Szczepanik

2024-12-22T09:00+00:00

There was a VAR check after Mats scored, but Lewis Dunk was deemed onside in the build-up. 📷 by James Boardman.

There was very little pre-Christmas cheer in evidence in the Sunday papers’ reports of Albion’s 1-1 draw away to West Ham.

True, the press seats at the London Stadium are so far from the pitch that, as with distant stars, the light takes some time to reach the naked eye, which can lead to a considerable degree of disgruntlement. But even via the HD monitors provided, the scribes did not enjoy much of what they saw.

In The Mail on Sunday, for example, James Sharpe wrote of the 1-1 draw that “it put you into the same kind of dazed stupor you feel after finishing off your Christmas dinner, just without any of the joy or potatoes.

“It was not until Lukasz Fabianski palmed the ball straight to Mats Wieffer, under a challenge from Lewis Dunk that West Ham’s players felt should have been a foul, that the game showed signs of life.

Lewis Dunk beat Lukasz Fabianski to the ball to tee up Mats Wieffer, who opened the scoring. 📷 by James Boardman.

“Fabianski saved a fierce shot from Brajan Gruda, Yankuba Minteh’s cross-shot from a tight angle somehow failed to go in despite hitting the inside of the post and Kaoru Mitoma on the line and Evan Ferguson couldn’t get on to the end of a teasing late cross in a frantic finish to a mostly tedious spectacle.”

Jack Rosser of The Sun on Sunday seemed to agree, writing that “there was a particular air of everyone wanting to be somewhere else across a desperate first half. The opening 45 minutes was best summed up by Carlos Baleba kicking his own teammate, Jan Paul van Hecke, in the head and Pervis Estupinan falling on his backside when lining up a rare shot.

“Hurzeler’s men found a way through, though [West Ham manager Julen] Lopetegui will have plenty to say about it. A quick Brighton corner was poorly cleared by Emerson Palmieri to Seagulls full-back Pervis Estupinian.

“The Colombian lifted a dangerous cross to the far post, where Lewis Dunk met it with a header at the expense of Lukasz Fabianski. Dunk’s barge sent the Pole tumbling, meaning he was helpless to stop as Wieffer finished low into an empty net from 13 yards. If it had been a defender Dunk had challenged there would have been no issue, but given the protection goalkeepers usually have – it was surprising to see the goal stand.

“The Seagulls' run without a win drags on. They continued to create openings but things are no longer falling for them as they did earlier this season. Yasin Ayari twice drew good saves from Lukasz Fabianski, the second deep in stoppage time.

“Yankuba Minteh raced down the right but saw his shot rattle the inside of the post before hitting Mitoma and bouncing away from goal while Evan Ferguson failed to connect with a fine cross yards from goal.”

In The Sunday Times, Kit Shephard described the game as “a team perhaps dragging themselves away from crisis meeting a team drifting into malaise”, but then admitted that “Brighton pushed aggressively for the winner. Vladimir Coufal deflected Yankuba Minteh’s cross onto a post, and Fabianski saved Yasin Ayari’s close-range effort. West Ham survived.”

Simon Burton of The Observer also had to concede that the final stages, at least, were better than his downbeat intro had suggested: “On the shortest day of the year, a game that burst only briefly into life. In the space of seven second-half minutes, from nothing and nowhere, things started to happen. Brighton took the lead. West Ham equalised. And then things stopped happening again.

A brilliant moment in front of the Albion supporters. 📷 by James Boardman.

“There were, to be fair, some rousing moments in the closing stages. Crysencio Summerville, one of 10 second-half substitutes, dispossessed Jan Paul van Hecke and sprinted towards the area, but his shot was blocked; Yankuba Minteh, another, slid the ball across goal where the defender Vladimir Coufal, a third, deflected it on to the foot of the far post.

“Finally, in the fourth minute of stoppage time and with Brighton finishing strongly, Evan Ferguson, a fourth substitute, who moments earlier had missed Pervis Estupiñán’s cross with the goal apparently at his mercy, set up Yasin Ayari, a fifth, for a shot that was well saved.

“For Brighton, this was a fifth game without a win, while West Ham remain 14th and frustratingly inconsistent. A change of fortunes will be high on both teams’ Christmas lists; this, though, was just listless.”

Timothy Abraham, writing on the BBC website, was one of only a few to notice that Albion would have been worthy victors. “Brighton have now gone five Premier League matches without a win,” he wrote. “Yet there were a signs here that Fabian Hurzeler's side are working themselves back into some kind of rhythm.

“The Seagulls controlled large periods of play, used the ball intelligently and looked the most likely to win it. A lack of clinical finishing in front of goal, however, meant they had to settle for a share of the points.

“The absence of experienced striker Danny Welbeck was acutely felt. The 34-year-old is Albion's top scorer this season with six league goals, but was absent with an ankle injury and will wince when he watches the chances squandered by Mitoma, Evan Ferguson and Yasin Ayari.

“Joao Pedro also had a largely quiet game. Having scored four times in his first six league games of the campaign, he is now without a goal in his last five. The visiting supporters will see this as [two] points that got away.”