Brighton and Hove Albion 1 West Ham 3
By Hughie Southon
West Ham grabbed their first Premier League win against Brighton this afternoon having only having beaten the south coast team once before in the Championship back in 2011/12.
And the victory put them on top of the League with Spurs in second place following goals from James Ward-Prowse grabbing his first for the Irons in 19 minutes, Jarrod Bowen in 58 and Michail Antonio five minutes later.
Hammers new boy James Ward Prowse grabbed his first goal for the club
Brighton’s consolation came after a period of late intense pressure with Grob scoring from outside the area in the 81st when he really should have been closed down.
Brighton may have had most of the possession by some distance but the Hammers were quite magnificent defensively and but for the soft goal would have kept a deserved clean sheet.
Ward-Prowse’s goal was shuttled in from close range following a fine cross from Antonio whilst Benrahma – on for Soucek who suffered an early injury – crossed magnificently for Bowen.
Antonio scored a beautiful third jinking round a defender to find the net with an angled shot but the hero for the Hammers was keeper Areola who made five magnificent saves to keep the Seagulls at bay as they staged a big finale.
All in all a very fine performance indeed with almost ball the players catching the eye at one stage of another.
I’ll enjoy the next 24 hours until Manchester City murder Sheffield United to go top.
Yesterday I predicted a win for the Hammers on here and when I forecast another top seven final place, I’m sure a lot of you would’ve had a bit of a chuckle. I never checked to see if I received any ‘deluded’ abuse from the miseries! I’m sticking with my words of ‘wisdom’.
West Ham’s recruitment team are building an excellent squad. I think we can do well in Europe for the third season running, and if the domestic cup draws are kind to us, well…… you never know. I did cheekily say that Declan might not win a medal this season, whilst the Hammers won the FA Cup! Irony is sometimes rich in our favourite sport.
Total agreement. Midfield looks much better now, not relying on one player. A striker would be nice, and perhaps somebody to challenge Emerson at full back. But we are in good shape.
A brilliant and deserved win away to a very good side and our bogey team! So enjoyable, so many plus points. Not least are terrific taking of chances, really clean and efficient. Also the signings are looking really good value players, great additions. I don’t prefer this style of play, but love it when we do it so well. Well played Irons players and Moyes.