Georginio Rutter did not want to talk too much about the controversy surrounding his stoppage-time equaliser, West Ham United were robbed of a vital win away at Brighton and Hove Albion in the 14th matchday of the Premier League campaign.
Nuno Espirito Santo was furious, and understandably so.
Yes, Georginio Rutter’s 91st minute strike should have stood, by the letter of the law. But the law, as Charles Dickens once said, is an ass, at times.
The irony is that, if Alphonse Areola had not saved Rutter’s initial effort, it would have been ruled out.
Instead, the West Ham United goalkeeper palmed the ball away after Rutter had followed up an accidental but still decisive handball with a shot on goal. As it came back to the former Leeds forward, for him to fire through Areola’s legs, it become a ‘new phase of play’.
Meaning that earlier handball was for all intents and purposes now legal.
Bizarre, yes. Unfair, certainly. But still, at least West Ham still took a point away from the Amex. Brighton are very much their ‘bogey team’, these days.
After beating the Seagulls only once in 16 top-flight matches, they could hardly have come any closer to snapping that hoodoo after Jarrod Bowen fired an ‘unbelievable’ finish past Bart Verbruggen. The captain’s first in eight Premier League matches. But another point on the road, and a run of one defeat in six games, meant that Nuno-driven revival continues.
Fabian Hurzeler and Georginio Rutter praise West Ham United’s defending at Brighton
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler hailed Nuno’s impact pre-match.
The former’s team were obliterated 7-0 by the latter’s Nottingham Forest last term, though it is Nuno’s penchant for creating an organised, well-drilled backline that gives West Ham renewed hope of survival.
“It was a different opponent with a different approach,” Hurzeler said at full-time. “Very, very compact, with a back five. A deep set-up, a low-block.
“That is not the easiest way to break through.”
“It feels amazing for the first goal for the season. I am very happy but we only take one point so that is frustrating,” Rutter added.
“I think West Ham are very good and they are very compact. We were waiting for them to make a mistake.
“We didn’t score in the first-half and we have a lot of chances but we scored in the end. At the goal, I was confused and scared about the VAR. Normally I am too far away from the box, so I have been training and it’s paid off today.”
Nuno reaches ten games in charge of the Hammers at the Amex
TEN games into the Nuno era, how would you sum up his impact?
What has he done right, and what has he done wrong?
While their wait for a first clean sheet since August rumbles on, West Ham are conceding an average of 1.6 goals per game under Nuno.
Hardly a formidable stat, but far better than the 2.6 goals per game they were letting in under Graham Potter in the opening weeks of the season.
And although goalscorer Bowen was ‘gutted’ to see Brighton equaliser in the dying embers – like against Bournemouth, the visitors sat too deep and paid the price – Nuno has instilled a real team spirit in this Hammers side.
“I think there are players that are really going to the high standards that we expect from them,” Nuno said after West Ham maintained their point-per-game average, ten matches into his tenure. “It will be easier with good results, but this is what we have.
“It’s the urgency of points and at the same time competing and improving, but I think we are doing well and I hope there is still progress to be made.
“Brighton is an amazing team. Good manager, fantastic players. It’s a hard place to come. We are humble enough to recognise that we have to adapt [our formation and tactics] and we are in our shape to contain them.
“We fight. We create chances, clear ones, but after you are winning, there’s always long balls, balls bouncing around, then comes a decision that we don’t understand. In football, sometimes you are on the other side.
“You must understand it, but please also understand my frustration. I cannot go and speak too much.
“I just want to thank our players and our fans for today. Now it’s time to take care of our disappointment. We are going to bounce back and we are going to compete against Aston Villa [on Sunday].”
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