There was penalty pandemonium at the London Stadium as West Ham United ended a run of three successive losses with a pulsating 2-2 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Although Nuno Espirito Santo’s side closed the gap on 17th-placed Nottingham Forest to four points, West Ham were twice pegged back by their visitors in a dramatic game.
Jarrod Bowen slotted the home side into a 10th-minute lead, but their advantage was short-lived as Danny Welbeck sent Alphonse Areola the wrong way with a clinical penalty.
Just moments later, Welbeck chipped his second penalty of the game onto the crossbar. That miss was punished in the fourth minute of stoppage time, when Lucas Paqueta converted the match's third spot-kick after Lewis Dunk was penalised for handball.
However, Areola’s error from a corner then gifted Brighton an equaliser as Joel Veltman pounced from close range. The 2-2 draw means the Hammers end 2025 in the relegation zone, in 18th place, while Brighton dropped to 14th after failing to win any of their December matches.
How the match unfolded
West Ham took the lead against the run of play when Paqueta’s perfectly weighted through-ball picked out Bowen, who calmly dispatched under Bart Verbruggen while one-v-one.
Brighton were then awarded two penalties in the space of five minutes. Welbeck buried the first into the bottom-left corner in the 32nd minute after Max Kilman tripped Yankuba Minteh.
Shortly after the restart, Paqueta wrestled Dunk to the floor during a corner, though Welbeck failed to convert that one, chipping an audacious attempt on to the crossbar.
West Ham regained the lead just before the break, with a penalty awarded against Dunk for handball following a VAR review, and Paqueta nonchalantly stroked his effort into the bottom-right corner.
In the 61st minute, Areola failed to fully clear a corner under Jan Paul van Hecke’s challenge, and Veltman took advantage, poking in from close range.
Verbruggen then excellently saved Bowen’s deft header, while Kaoru Mitoma and Georginio Rutter both forced key stops from Areola, and Yasin Ayari also fired wide late on as neither side could find a winner.
Individual errors cost West Ham
Following back-to-back Premier League victories at the start of November against Newcastle United and Burnley, West Ham are now winless in their last eight Premier League games, a worrying run of form given their position.
Although West Ham ended their losing run, supporters are still consumed by worry at the prospect of relegation, though Forest’s 2-0 loss to Everton means the gap to 17th is now smaller.
Despite going ahead through Bowen’s early strike and then leading again at half-time, West Ham always looked a little shaky. Kilman and Paqueta’s fouls for the penalties, as well as Areola’s error at the corner, underline why West Ham are embroiled in a relegation scrap.
Their energy faded in the second half, and Brighton were the more dominant side in the closing stages, though Areola responded well to his earlier mistake by making some crucial late saves.
With just two wins in 14 games under Nuno’s management, individual errors, a lack of consistency, and poor home form are all factors that need to be addressed, and they will be hoping to do that against fellow strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers in a crucial encounter on Saturday.
Brighton missing an extra spark
Winless in six games, Brighton started encouragingly, with Minteh forcing a save from Areola, before Diego Gomez blasted over in the opening minutes.
So, there would have been some frustration for Fabian Hurzeler when his defence allowed Bowen to burst through and open the scoring after West Ham had barely threatened.
Welbeck then took centre stage, converting the first penalty with aplomb, before getting his angles just wrong on the next one, which could have turned the momentum significantly in the first half.
As it was, it completely unravelled for the Seagulls, but Hurzeler’s side responded well in the second half and found the equaliser. Mitoma and Rutter both had presentable chances saved, and Ayari may feel he could have done better with his late opportunity.
Their last victory came away at Forest at the end of November, but their recent winless run means they have tumbled down the table and now sit just nine points above the relegation zone.
Brighton will face relegation-threatened Burnley on Saturday, a game which Hurzeler will be determined to walk away from with all three points.
Club reports
West Ham report | Brighton report
What the managers said
Nuno Espirito Santo: "The fight was there from both teams, a very intense game with a lot of things happening. The players of both teams were really committed and fighting.
"In terms of performance, the first half was better, we had momentum and created problems. Second half we started well but after we condeded the final moments of the game were tough for us.
"When Brighton put Mitoma on the left he caused problems, Rutter too. It was about hanging in, trying to kill them on the counter-attack. Overall it was a tough game for both teams.
"In the situation we are in it requires calmness in certain moments which is difficult to achieve, but the players managed well."
Fabian Hurzeler: "I thought it was a good performance, but in the end not a result we can be happy with. In some moments we missed some quality, in some moments we had a lack of luck. That's why it was 2-2.
"But we have the belief in our quality and ourselves. Small margins are missing but we will keep pushing and I’m sure we’ll soon be back to getting on the winning track."
Next PL fixtures
Key facts
Brighton remain unbeaten away to West Ham in the Premier League in nine total visits (W2 D7), with only Chelsea and Arsenal facing a side more times on the road in the competition without ever tasting defeat (both 10 v Burnley).
West Ham vs Brighton is only the second game in Premier League history to see three first half penalties awarded after Fulham (two) v Bolton (one) in August 2002.
West Ham have conceded 11 goals from corners in the English top flight this season, more than any other side, and now their outright most ever in a single Premier League campaign.
Brighton’s Welbeck was the ninth player to both score and miss a penalty in the first half of a Premier League match, and the first since Ivan Toney for Brentford v Newcastle in April 2023.