The Seagulls produced one of the finest performances of the season and increased pressure on West Ham manager David Moyes as his team remain far to close to the relegation zone.
It was another case of the curse of Brighton for West Ham – Moyes’ side have never beaten the Seagulls in the Premier League and left the Amex Stadium empty-handed, yet again, at the 12th attempt.
But this was far from unlucky. A penalty from Alexis Mac Allister, tap-ins for Joel Veltman and Kaoru Mitoma and a late strike from Danny Welbeck did the damage as the fans’ patience with Moyes ran out.
The usually supportive away following were singing his name in the first half, but he faced chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ and ‘sacked in the morning’ in the second.
Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi has no such problems, and he watched from the stands with his feet up while he served a touchline ban for his red card in the tunnel against Fulham a fortnight ago. The Italian’s absence certainly did not knock his in-form side out of their stride.
Sussex World reporter Sam Morton was at the Amex Stadium and here’s the player ratings...
13. Veltman (on for Lamptey on 16th minute) – 8:
Slotted seamlessly into the team after Lamptey’s injury. Always reliable when called upon. In the right place at the right time to chest the ball into the net for 2-0. Photo: Steve Bardens
14. Welbeck (on for Estupiñán) – 8:
Excellent finish into the bottom corner to add the icing onto the cake for Brighton. Photo: Steve Bardens
15. Enciso (on for Mitoma) – 7:
Straight into the action with a shot on goal after nice turn. Then denied a screamer by outstanding Areola save Photo: Steve Bardens
16. Sarmiento
(on for Evan Ferguson): N/A Photo: Warren Little