Rutter grabs late point for Brighton after Bowen opener

Unusually devoid of creativity, Brighton were imprisoned within Nuno Espirito Santo’s tactical cage.

- John Brewin

Jarrod Bowen, West Ham’s talisman, had executed perfectly his manager’s counterattacking strategy. Nuno’s team were fighting their way towards safety, with three points appearing to be heading back to London.

Nuno’s plan was coming together so well that Bowen’s goal had been supplied by Callum Wilson, a substitute on the field for just 51 seconds. Yet the masterplan fell short. The Amex Stadium, home of late goals, staged another, Georginio Rutter squeezing in a stoppage-time equaliser for his first goal of the season.

Before that timely late surge, Brighton had not landed a shot on target. Ambitions of returning to the European stage are being hindered by inconsistency. West Ham’s horizons are significantly lower. Leeds’s recent form has deepened relegation worries and Rutter’s goal meant the three-point gap to Daniel Farke’s team had only one chiselled from it. “We did so much to get into the lead,” Bowen said. “But we sat back too far and invited the pressure.”