HAMMERS BID FALLING FLAT
Benrahma keeps Moyes in the race with late reply but this is an opportunity missed
DAVID MOYES has been quite clear in the past week that he wants a European trip next season. Alas, his players seem to have got used to staying at home.
Quite how it plays out from here is anyone’s guess, but West Ham’s blip is developing into a question of whether their spot in the top six will soon go the way of what they briefly held in the top four.
Four points from 15 is iffy at the best of times, but at the sharp end of a campaign that has been so brilliant it runs the risk of being ruinous. Of course this one could have been worse. With six minutes to play they trailed to Danny Welbeck’s goal and only took a point courtesy of their substitute Said Benrahma.
But draws against teams with little to play for are of limited value. The Champions League is as good as gone, and now the lesser options of the Europa League and its Conference cousin are hovering in some jeopardy. For Moyes, who remains a strong candidate for manager of the season, it would be desperately frustrating for the wheels to come off now, even if several would debate the merits of Europe’s smaller competitions.
For the time being, what they lack in momentum is compensated with opportunity. Their final two games are against West Brom and Southampton, so it is over to Tottenham to capitalise on their fixture in hand. A fun race if nothing else.
Moyes made three changes, of which the most welcome for both local and national interests was the return of Declan Rice.
It has been a long and sticky six weeks since he damaged his knee with England and the temptation is to wonder where West Ham might stand in relation to the top four had he been around.
You can probably be bullish in assuming it would be a closer run thing, such is the quality and clarity of thought he brings to that spot just in front of the defence.
Consider the opening 15 minutes here, which were otherwise quiet except for the subtle, important, familiar contributions made by the 22-year-old. In that passage there were four Brighton surges and four times it was Rice who read the move and broke it up.
For good measure he also blocked Leandro Trossard’s crack at goal, and set the tempo for a pair of attacks that faded to nothing at the edge of Brighton’s area. West Ham’s most influential player? By a distance.
And the rest? They were solid without creating much that was sufficiently dangerous. Michail Antonio was a fraction short in lunging for one cross and he also misdirected a header, before pressure escalated sharply towards the end of the first half.
In a rush of chances, Pablo Fornals wasted their two best moves and had an appeal for a penalty ignored at the culmination of a third, while Tomas Soucek had a good look at goal but shot directly at Robert Sanchez.
West Ham’s undoing against Everton last weekend was a failure to convert possession — having controlled the opening 45 minutes here, it was looking like they might be guilty of the same shortcoming.
Antonio skied an effort early in the second period and Soucek headed over, with those misses coming either side of a run and shot from Alireza Jahanbakhsh that forced a save out of Lukasz Fabianski at the other end.
Jahanbakhsh beat Fabianski with a second strike but it ran across the goal and wide — a warning again that even with little to play for Brighton had enough of a pulse to cause problems.
Jesse Lingard, who has been at the root of so much that has been good at West Ham since his arrival in January, was having a quiet evening, which possibly explained the struggle for a breakthrough.
He had a half-decent opportunity around the hour mark after linking with Rice, but having shuffled on to his left foot he launched over the bar. Moyes was starting to share his frustrations on the touchline.
He brought on Said Benrahma in a push for a little extra sparkle, or desperation, if you prefer. Beyond a chance for Fornals, which he backheeled to nowhere, it generated only a small response, before Benrahama put a perfect cross on to Soucek’s head. It was the moment West Ham needed, but he missed the target. A huge waste, and the precursor to the gut punch.
Percy Tau had the through ball and it was Welbeck who went through and delivered the finish.
That had Moyes in a spin, but with three minutes to play Benrahma found the corner from the edge of the area.
Brighton (3-4-3): Sanchez 7; White 6, Webster 6, Burn 7; Gross 6, Alzate 6 (Lallana 67min, 6), Bissouma 7, Moder 6; Jahanbakhsh 6 (Tau 73, 5), Welbeck 6, Trossard 5 (Zeqiri 83). Booked: Bissouma. Subs (not used): Karbownik, Connolly, Mac Allister, Andone, Steele, Caicedo.
WeSt ham (4-2-3-1): Fabianski 6; Coufal 6, Dawson 7, Ogbonna 7, Cresswell 6; Soucek 6, Rice 7; Bowen 5 (Benrahma 64, 6), Lingard 6, Fornals 5; Antonio 7. Subs (not used): Balbuena, Yarmolenko, Noble, Diop, Fredericks, Johnson, Randolph, Odubeko. referee: A Marriner 7.