Written by : Emily Pulham

Pellegrini made five changes to the side that fell to City last weekend, as West Ham broke their Brighton duck and shared the points with the Seagulls team that roared to an opening day rout against Watford.

The bulk of the attacking threat in the game came from the home side, with the Seagulls coming close early on in the game when Dan Burn failed to get his header on target. Leandro Trossard was lively throughout, and thought he had put Brighton ahead in the 28th minute, only to have his goal correctly ruled out by VAR, as Brun, who provided the cross, was offside at the time of doing so.

After the break, West Ham were first to get a goal that stood – with Javier Hernandez firing home the Hammers’ first goal of the season after being played through against the run of play by Manuel Lanzini.

West Ham’s lead was not to last long in the face of Trossard’s determination, and just four minutes later Issa Diop was caught in possession and Trossard scored from the edge of the box.

Brighton continued to push late into the game but were unable to add to their goal tally.

For all their attacking promise in summer signings, the Hammers were stronger in defence today, with just a missed chance from Antonio towards the end of the game to regret as he sent a weak header straight to the Brighton keeper.

West Ham have not done well against Brighton in past seasons, losing three of their last four games home or away and losing all four Premier League away visits, so to earn a point at the Amex stadium rather than be at the wrong end of a three goal defeat will be seen as progress and a decent result.