Hammer blow from Murray: Winners and losers as Brighton & Hove Albion win 1-0 against West Ham United

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Brighton & Hove Albion ran out 1-0 winners over West Ham United in this evening’s Premier League fixture at the Amex Stadium.

The game started with more possession than excitement until Brighton’s Beram Kayal crossed for the experienced Glenn Murray who converted from close range to put the hosts in front.

Understandably, West Ham came out with a little more urgency after the break, gaining control of possession and spending a lot of time in Brighton’s half. However, as more substitutes were made, Brighton slowly got themselves back into the game and were able to hold on for the vital three points.

For Brighton, they now sit in 12th place with the rest of the weekend’s fixtures yet to be played. More importantly, they are eight points clear of the bottom three. In contrast, West Ham drop to 15th and find themselves scratching their heads after picking up points against bigger sides in their previous three outings.

Here are some of the winners and losers from Brighton’s victory over West Ham United.

Winner

Glenn Murray 

What is it about West Ham that Mr Murray loves? The Brighton striker managed to score yet again against the east London club. Kayal put in a decent delivery into the Hammers penalty area and Murray pounced to tap the ball home from yards out.

The 35-year-old now has six goals in five Premier League appearances against West Ham. It was also his fifth goal of this campaign. Who needs pace when you’re clever and wield a striker’s instinct? Goal 99 for Brighton.

Loser

West Ham United

Typical West Ham. All three points away to Everton, a great 0-0 draw at home to Chelsea and a majestic performance that saw them beat Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United side 3-1 last weekend.

This evening, they were slow, uninspired and generally just lethargic across the entirety of the pitch. Tonight’s defeat means they still haven’t beaten Brighton since 2012. It also means they now have to nervously watch this weekend’s football knowing that they could be edging closer once more to those bottom three places.

Winner

Brighton’s defence

Brighton’s defensive pairing of Shane Duffy and Lewis Dunk have both just signed new deals at the club and tonight was the start of their repayment. They have struggled to keep the goals at bay throughout the season so far. However, tonight’s clean sheet will do wonders for their confidence as they head further into the Premier League campaign. Prior to tonight, Dunk and Duffy had conceded two goals in each of their six matches they have started together this season, 13 in the last seven games.

Elsewhere, 38-year-old Bruno was brought back into the side to make just his second appearance since the opening day of the season against Watford. The Spaniard had to contend with some pacey options up front for the visitors, however, Bruno used his experience to deal with pretty much everything that came down his side of the pitch and was worthy of finishing on the winning side.

Loser

Fabián Balbuena

West Ham’s big centre-back has gradually performed better as he gets used to life in English football.

However, the Paraguayan international missed a sitter in the second half to drag the Hammers level. A cross into the box, Balbuena failed to get any connection on his header and a golden chance was wasted. It proved to be West Ham’s best chance of the match and ultimately it cost them a chance of leaving the Amex with at least a point.

Winner

Brighton & Hove Albion

Tonight’s victory means Brighton got their first win in seven games across all competitions. Before this evening, Brighton had only won once in the Premier League all season (against Manchester United, obviously).

They achieved their first clean sheet of the season with both Shane Duffy and Lewis Dunk ‘putting a shift in’. Chris Houghton may well be starting to look upwards ever so slightly, with his side winning just their third game in the last 17 matches. The other two? You guessed it, both against United.

Their record against London sides since the beginning of last season is as follows; Won 4, drawn 3, lost 6.

Loser

Declan Rice

The Irish international (at present) didn’t provide the same amount of bite and urgency in his play as in recent weeks and it was reflected in West Ham’s overall performance.

Whether he is eyeing up a switching to an English allegiance or not, only he knows. But perhaps the reports on his indecisiveness took his eye off the ball just ever so slightly.

The post Hammer blow from Murray: Winners and losers as Brighton & Hove Albion win 1-0 against West Ham United appeared first on Squawka News.



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