Bogeyman Murray haunts Hammers
The word on the lips of West ham fans was ‘typical’. Make Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United look like a bunch of schoolboys one week, lose to Brighton the next.
Only in the second half at the Amex Stadium did the visitors finally show some of what they inflicted on United in their last outing. By then, though, they were 1-0 down and it was too late.
Glenn Murray’s goal was the difference, with the big striker exposing what can happen when Manuel Pellegrini’s passing and possessionbased style of play goes wrong. Brighton’s talisman scored from close range after a careless loss of the ball by Andriy Yarmolenko inside his own half and even more careless defending from Arthur Masuaku.
In 2018, the only englishmen to have scored more than Murray’s 12 in the Premier League are Jamie Vardy and harry Kane on 14 and 17 respectively.
A late bloomer in the top flight who has never received an england call-up, Murray, 35, knows where the back of the net is. Gift him an opportunity to score from six yards, and more often than not he will punish you. he duly did here.
In the hours before this clash, Brighton centre backs Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy committed themselves to the club, both signing five-year contracts. It was Dunk’s sixth deal since 2010 and Duffy’s third since 2016. It was a case of here are your new contracts, now keep Marko Arnautovic quiet. In the 14th minute, the Austria striker almost got the better of the defensive duo from a set-piece.
Felipe Anderson’s cross found Arnautovic backtracking to the outside of the box. he caught the ball sweetly on the volley but Murray made a vital block.
Murray, the Brighton striker built like an oak dresser, would soon make his mark at the other end, too. West ham seemed comfortable in possession yet too casual, and they soon shot themselves in the foot.
Yarmolenko lost the ball in his own half as he was robbed by Beram Kayal. The Brighton midfielder raced down the left wing and crossed, finding Murray unmarked. Masuaku had failed to tuck in, leaving Murray free to prod the ball beyond Lukasz Fabianski. Dire defending from the visitors.
It meant Murray had scored six goals in his last five games against West ham, and he was now on 99 for Brighton in his career.
Really, this result depended on which West ham turned up. If the one who played United off the park last week arrived at the Amex Stadium, this would surely have been a stroll by the seaside.
Yet there was a lack of urgency from the visitors in the opening 45 minutes.
Perhaps they had underestimated Brighton, who are a cohesive unit under Chris hughton. The Seagulls stay compact and are happy defending deep when out of possession.
That is how they survived Premier League relegation against all odds last season, and hughton sees it as the best way to go about business again.
Brighton had not yet kept a clean sheet, however, and West ham went in search of their leveller.
From an Anderson corner, Fabian Balbuena should have scored, but the unmarked defender sent his header wide from about six yards.
The hammers continued to apply pressure but could not find a way through and Brighton thought they had scored a second on the break in the 89th minute. Jose Izquierdo’s shot was pushed out by Fabianski and Jurgen Locadia fired it back past the Poland keeper, only to see the linesman’s flag for offside. Back to the drawing board for Pellegrini, back to winning ways for hughton.
BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION (4-4-1-1): Ryan 6.5; Bruno 6.5, Duffy 7, Dunk 7, Bong 7; Knockaert 7, Propper 7 (Bissouma 80min), Kayal 7.5, Jahanbakhsh 7.5 (Izquierdo 71, 6); March 6.5 (Locadia 86), Murray 8. Subs not used: Button, Andone, Balogun, Bernardo. Scorer: Murray 25. Booked: Duffy, Kayal, Jahanbakhsh. Manager: Chris Hughton 7. WEST HAM UNITED (4-1-4-1): Fabianski 6; Zabaleta 5.5, Balbuena 5, Diop 5.5, Masuaku 4; Rice 6; Yarmolenko 5 (Perez 70, 6), Noble 6 (Snodgrass 83), Obiang 5.5 (Antonio 60, 6), Anderson 5.5; Arnautovic 5.5. Subs not used: Adrian, Cresswell, Ogbonna, Fredericks. Booked: Arnautovic, Snodgrass. Manager: Manuel Pellegrini 5.5. Referee: Kevin Friend 6. Attendance: 30,544.