By Louis Nixon

Konstantinos Mavropanos’ West Ham rejuvenation continues against Brighton, despite conceding a late equaliser.

It has been a miraculous turnaround from the Greek International. His early injury, which saw him out for a prolonged period, was a big frustration and upon being able to return, Nuno placed him straight into the starting squad and his performances have made many fans see him in an admirable light. 

His defensive performance against Brighton saw him make 14 defensive contributions and nearly a clean sheet to go alongside it, but courtesy of VAR, that prospect for the first time since August was unfairly denied. 10 clearances as well as 5 recoveries throughout the game is impressive, given the side we were playing. 

Many will forget that despite not coming away with two additional points due to an unfair decision out of our control, Brighton were a side that were sat in the Top 5 before this game week, and would’ve returned there if they had won. We’ve been challenging sides that previously we’ve not been able to, and before the 88th minute, Brighton hadn’t even mustered up a shot on target! That’s a great defensive performance. 

It has been excellent to see Mavropanos return to the starting lineup after his long spell out. He’s been a vital asset that we’ve been longing to return, seeing as the pair of Kilman and Todibo alone wasn’t working in the slightest, and ultimately cost us a plethora of points under Nuno’s spell so far.  

As well as his defensive successes, he also managed six passes into the final third, which is what you tend to expect from a midfielder, not a defender! It’s to see him work well with what Nuno’s asked from him

He so nearly grabbed a winner at the end with a header that went just wide in the last second of added time. He should have scored but it’s great to see him being a threat in the opposition box, it’s something we’ve really missed with just Kilman and Todibo at the back.

Overall, despite not coming away with a clean sheet to his name, it was a great performance from him and hopefully it continues onwards with two vital games ahead.