West Ham watch relegation lifeline slip away in entertaining draw with Brighton

West Ham were unable to grab a relegation lifeline after they were held to a 2-2 draw in a breathless contest against bogey side Brighton.

The Hammers were leading 2-1 and, with Nottingham Forest losing against Everton, could have cut the gap to safety to just two points.

Given that Forest are the next visitors to the London Stadium, West Ham’s prospects would have suddenly looked a lot brighter.

But Joel Veltman scrambled home an equaliser to leave the Hammers still in deep trouble and in possession of a remarkable record of still having never managed to beat Brighton at home, in what now is nine Premier League meetings.

Earlier, Danny Welbeck scored one penalty and missed another. Lucas Paqueta gave away one penalty and scored another. It was that sort of evening, the end of which meant both teams have gone through December without registering a single win.

West Ham went ahead after 10 minutes with their first attack of the match when Jarrod Bowen chased Paqueta’s ball over the top and outpaced Brighton’s defence before slotting past goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.

They almost doubled their lead when young left-back Ollie Scarles, who was in tears after his mistake gifted Fulham a late winner on Saturday, jinked into the area only to drag his shot wide.

However, Brighton hauled themselves level on the half-hour after Max Kilman’s clumsy challenge wiped out Yankuba Minteh in the area, with Welbeck sending Alphonse Areola the wrong way from the penalty spot.

If that was bad defending from West Ham, the next piece was downright bizarre as, from a corner, Paqueta’s rugby tackle on Lewis Dunk prompted referee Michael Salisbury to point to the spot again.

Welbeck stepped up once more, and duly beat Areola again, but this time his ‘Panenka’ style effort came back off the crossbar.

The next penalty drama came as an eventful first half moved into stoppage time, with Dunk blocking a goalbound Callum Wilson shot.

Replays showed the ball hit the Seagulls defender’s arm, which was away from his body, and after a lengthy VAR check Salisbury awarded the spot-kick.

Paqueta, clearly wanting to atone for his aberration at the other end, took responsibility and, when Verbruggen dived one way, the Brazilian rolled the ball into the opposite corner.

After the break another VAR check, when Brighton substitute Kaoru Mitoma went down under Bowen’s challenge, proved fruitless for the visitors.

But they scored from the resulting corner when Areola’s punch landed at the feet of the unmarked Veltman for a simple finish.

Moments later Verbruggen made a crucial save, diving to his left to keep out a glancing Bowen header from Scarles’ free-kick.

Things could have got worse for West Ham, however, with Areola fending off shots from Ferdi Kadioglu, Georginio Rutter and Mitoma to ensure they at least earned a point.