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Fatigued West Ham United and exhausted Brighton and Hove Albion played out a dull 0-0 draw, dealing a blow to their hopes of reaching the top five.
Both makeshift teams were without a total of 16 key players due to various reasons such as injuries, illness, suspension, and the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon). West Ham, in particular, has been impacted by the absence of their top-performing striker, Mohammed Kudus, who will be participating in Afcon for a month.
Since it was the ninth game for West Ham in a month and the eighth for Brighton, managers David Moyes and Roberto De Zerbi would likely have agreed on a tie before the start of the game and opted to watch darts instead.
Before watching a slow-paced game, 60,000 individuals had to endure a storm in order to reach the London Stadium.
Brighton’s most recent scoreless match was their first in 48 Premier League games, with their previous one being against Nottingham Forest in October 2022.
Midfielder James Milner had reason to celebrate as he reached his 632nd Premier League appearance, tying him with former Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs for second place on the all-time list.
At the start of the new year, West Ham had a slow and lazy first 30 minutes. They made a weak appeal for a penalty when Edson Alvarez tripped over Billy Gilmour’s leg, but it was dismissed. Emerson Palmieri then missed the goal with a poorly hit shot.
James Ward-Prowse’s volley was skillfully stopped by Jason Steele, while Konstantinos Mavropanos headed Jarrod Bowen’s cross just over the crossbar.
Moyes gave Said Benrahma, who was not selected for Algeria’s Afcon team, a rare opportunity to play in the absence of Kudus and Lucas Paqueta. The winger took advantage of this chance and made a skillful run from the left wing, but his shot went wide.
Although West Ham was slightly more adventurous, Brighton had the two best opportunities in the first half.
Initially, Ben Johnson was penalized for a violation against Facundo Buonanotte at a distance of 25 yards. From a cross by Pascal Gross, Alphonse Areola managed to deflect a header from Danny Welbeck at the far post, but then also stopped the follow-up attempt from Jack Hinshelwood.
Gross managed to position himself between the two center defenders of West Ham, but his header from Milner’s cross was too close to Areola.
Following the interruption, Welbeck’s powerful shot caused Areola to make an impressive diving save. Milner, who will be turning 38 on Thursday, sent the rebound high into the air.
At the 60-minute mark, West Ham had the opportunity to score, as Benrahma’s cross ended up in front of Tomas Soucek. However, the Czech midfielder missed the goal with his attempt.
Brighton ended the game with a stronger performance. Evan Ferguson, who came in as a substitute, almost made a quick impact with a powerful shot that evaded Areola’s dive but narrowly missed the far post.
Jakub Moder missed a close-range shot and Areola made a good save to stop Adam Lallana and keep the score tied for the home team.
Source: independent.co.uk
