GLENN HAS THE STAYING POWER

Golden oldie Murray bags winner.. and is set to land new contract

FOURTEEN months ago new-boys Brighton were stuck with him after a string of supposedly better strikers turned them down.

Thirty-five-year-old Glenn Murray has since turned out to be more precious to boss Chris Hughton (right) than all of them put together.

Murray’s winner here was his 40th goal in 86 league appearances since his return to the club from Bournemouth two years ago. Add his strikes from his first spell and he has netted 98 times in total.

His goals helped get Brighton into the Premier League in the first place. Last season he was top scorer to help to keep them there. This time around he is rubbing shoulders with Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane and Aleksandar Mitrovic – all on five – behind six-goal Golden Boot leader, Eden Hazard. No wonder Brighton are ready to give him yet another new deal. If anyone sums up this club’s never-say-die attitude, it is Murray.

Like the Seagulls he has been written off, taken for granted, and denied the respect he deserves. Like the Seagulls, Murray has, time and again, forced his critics to eat their words.

Here, Murray was once more in the right place at the right time to punish West Ham’s lax defending after 25 minutes.

Beram Kayal’s delicious ball in from the left was garnished with the icing on the cake it deserved. The defending was awful. Fabian Balbuena and Issa Diop rolling out the red carpet for Murray to stroll in unmarked.

The Hammers played like a side still dining out on their superb win over Manchester United. Brighton were wounded animals, hungry to prove they are better than their one win in seven had suggested.

To be fair to the Seagulls, they have good reason to feel that way. Yes, they’d taken just two points from their previous five ahead of this contest.

The three defeats in that run, however, came against teams that finished last season in the top four.

After last weekend, Manuel Pellegrini’s men were supposed to be in the zone. They were hunting back-to-back victories for only the first time since January 2017.

Owners David Gold and Sullivan were starting to get the feeling they were finally getting what they are paying their Chilean boss £10million a year for – defensive solidity, midfield creativity and a cutting edge up front.

But this was a return to the bad old days. The Brighton centre-halves Shane Duffy and Lewis Dunk are both celebrating after being handed new five-year deals which run until 2023.

They couldn’t have had an easier night on which to uncork the champagne. Efforts on goal from West Ham were few and far between. Andriy Yarmolenko tickled the hands of home keeper Mat Ryan with an effort from the edge of the box on 33 minutes.

Marko Arnautovic worked a move nicely to fashion some space in the box seven minutes after half time – only to waste the opening.

And that was that. Brighton are back in business. West Ham – for the umpteenth time – must go back to basics.