Soccer

West Ham continue goalless start to season as Brighton strike twice in London

David Moyes’ bid to repeat last year’s success gets off to a sluggish start

Brighton and Hove Albion's Leandro Trossard celebrates scoring his side's second goal of the game. Photograph: John Walton/PA
Brighton and Hove Albion's Leandro Trossard celebrates scoring his side's second goal of the game. Photograph: John Walton/PA
John Brewin
Sun Aug 21 2022 - 16:26

West Ham United 0 Brighton & Hove Albion 2

David Moyes is attempting to deliver something unprecedented in West Ham’s history, a third consecutive top-seven league finish. Neither Ron Greenwood’s trio of 1966 World Cup winners nor John Lyall’s 1980s entertainers managed that.

The signs so far are unpromising, particularly after a defeat that continued a goalless start to the season. Brighton extended their unbeaten Premier League hex on West Ham to nine matches, running out deserved winners, with Leandro Trossard, scorer of the second and instrumental in the first, the outstanding player in a team that attacked and defended as a unit.

For West Ham, Thilo Kehrer, signed from Paris Saint-Germain and starting in central defence, had a problematic debut, rashly conceding the penalty from which Alexis Mac Allister scored the opening goal. Making one change from last week’s loss at Nottingham Forest, Moyes had left further new signings in Gianluca Scamacca, Flynn Downes and Maxwel Cornet on the bench. He is not a manager given to sweeping changes. Graham Potter, with whom Moyes shared a lengthy, cordial pre-match chat, had stuck to the same XI that beat Manchester United on opening day, and drew at Newcastle. The end results were rather different.

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One manager’s conservatism looks to be holding his team back, a group of players bearing the scars of two previous seasons where a small squad was stretched thinly. The other’s careful, progressive approach is bearing fruit in early season, further adding to his reputation.

Potter’s team may still lack the prolific striker who could help sustain a challenge for a European place but they had control from the early stages. Both Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio might have escaped down the flanks, making use of the space between Brighton’s defensive trio and their wing-backs but neither forward could then find a colleague. Moyes’ attacking trident were too often on different wavelengths.

Danny Welbeck won a penalty after a foul by Thilo Lehrer of West Ham. Photograph: Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Danny Welbeck won a penalty after a foul by Thilo Lehrer of West Ham. Photograph: Alex Pantling/Getty Images

Early on for Brighton, Danny Welbeck looked to have a clear sight of goal, only to check back and look for support. A purer striker would surely have made an attempt on goal, though the former England man showed off his key attributes of pace and positioning in winning the penalty, surging past Kehrer after Kurt Zouma’s charge forward and loss of the ball had left his new partner exposed.

Trossard’s acute, angled pass sent Welbeck away and though there was a VAR delay to confirm Kehrer had tripped Welbeck in the area for a delayed fall, there was nothing controversial in the decision by Anthony Taylor to match the outrage the Greater Manchester official had caused Thomas Tuchel the previous Sunday. Mac Allister, from a short run-up, sent Lukasz Fabianski the wrong way.

Brighton looked far likelier to score as the first half went on, Trossard dipping a volley wide from the edge of the area, and with Moisés Caicedo having the better of the midfield battle with opposite number Declan Rice. The visitors were unhurried, comfortable in possession, Trossard and Welbeck’s runs dragging Hammers defenders from their comfort zones.

The half-time boos were predictable and West Ham began the second period with far greater urgency. Bowen’s zip down the right flank was their most reliable outlet, and his attack set up a Rice shot, deflected wide. From the resultant corner, Aaron Cresswell, the crowd expectant as the ball dropped to him, could only clatter the ball into Joël Veltman. Handball was claimed, but none given.

At last, Pablo Fornals and Saïd Benrahma began to see more of the ball, and Robert Sánchez was asked to save a skidding, drive from Fornals, bursting from an inside-right position, the Spaniard’s last action before he was withdrawn in the 62nd minute for Scamacca. Brighton fans were soon treated to their own debutant when Adam Lallana was replaced by the Ecuadorian, Pervis Estupiñán, once of Watford and most recently of Villarreal.

Within seconds of the new arrival, Brighton doubled their lead, executing a level of incision that was beyond West Ham, whose attacking efforts had left them vulnerable on the counter. Mac Allister strode forward, and Pascal Gross, falling as he did so, flicked Trossard through on goal. The Belgian, one on one with Fabianski, won the battle of wits with a low finish, his run having been untracked down the left-hand side of the defence that Kehrer and Cresswell had left vacant.

Solly March might have made it three, when Estupiñán, on as a left wing-back, got to the byline and crossed in a ball that begged to be headed home. Sánchez then preserved the two-goal cushion with two fine saves, tipping headers from Tomas Soucek and Bowen over the bar.

West Ham’s search for their first goal continues, let alone their first points. For Moyes to succeed where his legendary forebears could not already looks a tall order.