Brighton star: ‘We knew the West Ham fans would turn’

Brighton star Leandro Trossard insists the Seagulls were well aware the London Stadium crowd would turn on the Hammers if they played poorly on Sunday.

Graham Potter’s side won 2-0, consigning the Irons to a third successive defeat in which they have failed to score a goal.

Trossard scored the second goal, latching on to a beautiful Pascal Gross flick to finish in the bottom corner when one-on-one with Lukasz Fabianski. Alexis Mac Allister had opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Thilo Kehrer fouled Danny Welbeck in the area.

And Trossard says there was a feeling amongst the Brighton players that the Hammers supporters would turn on the team if they fell behind and failed to find a way back into the game.

Speaking after the game, as per Planet Sport, the Belgian said: “In the first half we played well and obviously with the penalty it was nice to go in front and I think we controlled the majority of the game.

“You know if you’re 1-0 up at half-time they are going to come out and try to score a goal but we managed it well I think.

“We knew the crowd, if we played well, would maybe get angry with them and we played really well.

“It’s always good when you, as the away team, can get control of the game and it doesn’t help the home team if the fans are not behind you.”

The Hammers face Viborg in the second leg of their Europa Conference League playoff in midweek before taking on Aston Villa next weekend.