- Jarrod Bowen was a bright spot but there is cause for concern in attack for hosts
- Mats Wieffer opened the scoring after a limp first-half but Hammers hit back
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Julen Lopeteguiknows that if Niclas Fullkrug is the man to keep him in a job at West Ham, his striker will have to offer more than this. Thankfully, he can still count on Jarrod Bowen to help save the day.
Fullkrug, the £27million summer signing, made his first league start in West Ham’s 1-1 draw against Brighton after missing three months with an Achilles injury and that he is still not up to speed would be the kindest explanation for his stumbling full debut at the London Stadium.
The 31-year-old touched the ball just 13 times, not once in the second half, and on eight of those occasions he gave it away before being dragged just before the hour after Brighton had taken the lead through Mats Weiffer after Lukasz Fabianski had flapped a cross into his path.
It was no surprise that Fullkrug had barely taken his boots off when West Ham found their equaliser less than a minute later with Bowen through the middle.
He did brilliantly to find space and force Bart Verbruggen to parry his shot to Mohammed Kudus, who nodded in the rebound and wheeled away in delight and celebrated by sitting on a Ghana-inspired wooden stool in the shape of an elephant.
‘Niclas has been out for three months so that’s a lot of time without rhythm,’ said Lopetegui. ‘It’s true that he is not in his best way but he needs minutes and to achieve the level he can. He is going to be better, he is going to relax more. Sometimes you know the player is not in his best way but you have to play him because we think we are going to need him. He has to take advantage of that.’
Jarrod Bowen was a bright spot for West Ham as the Hammers drew with Brighton
Summer signing Niclas Fullkrug looked far from the striker who might save his manager’s job
Julen Lopetegui is now unbeaten in two but the Spanish manager remains under pressure
A brass band played Christmas hits before kick-off and it didn’t take long watching these two teams to wish they would come back out for a second session. Little action, little atmosphere, little quality.
It put you into the same kind of dazed stupor you feel after finishing off your Christmas dinner, just without any of the joy or potatoes.
It was not until Fabianski palmed the ball straight to Wieffer, under a challenge from Lewis Dunk that West Ham’s players felt should have been a foul, that the game showed signs of life.
The hosts have often crumbled after going behind this season but showed character to strike back and, as it so often does, had Bowen at the heart of it.
For Brighton, it’s a fifth game without a win and a third time Fabian Hurzeler’s side have taken the lead in that run but failed to go on to win.
‘It’s a circle of bad experiences,’ said Brighton boss Hurzeler. ‘One thing is for sure is that no one will help us get out the situation. It’s our responsibility to get back a winning mentality.’
They should have done, too. Fabainski saved a fierce shot from Brajan Gruda, Yankuba Minteh’s cross-shot from a tight angle somehow failed to go in despite hitting the inside of the post and Kaoru Mitoma on the line and Evan Ferguson couldn’t get on to the end of a teasing late cross in a frantic finish to mostly tedious spectacle.