Maupay magic flick silences Brighton boos

They were looking like a side allergic to scoring then Neal Maupay produced a hail Mary, scoring a marvellous overhead kick to salvage a point for 10-man Brighton.

They were a man shy, having used all of their substitutes when Adam Lallana dropped down injured. But it took a Tariq Lamptey cross for Maupay to spark bedlam.

Manager Graham Potter celebrated wildly, mostly in relief. It had looked like the same old story for Brighton after seeing so many chances go to waste. It was finally the least likely opportunity which flew in for the visitors, ruling out Tomas Soucek’s would-be winner.

They remain winless in their last nine league games but this time, Brighton’s supporters headed home pretty pleased with themselves, given the circumstances.

That was in stark contrast to the aftermath of their 0-0 draw with Leeds in their last outing, when Brighton were booed at full-time. That perplexed Potter, who had said some of their supporters need a history lesson and a reminder of how the club was staring at oblivion as recently as 1997.

‘It’s important to communicate with our supporters,’ said Potter, who passionately pumped his fists in front of the away end at full-time last night. ‘We’ll be together. We’ll keep moving forward. I liked the performance — I’ve got nothing to complain about.’

David Moyes wasn’t happy with a disallowed goal for Michail Antonio which would have made it 2-0 to West ham in the second half. VAR, after three minutes of deliberation, decided Antonio was offside. ‘I don’t think we’re in the game to chalk goals off,’ Moyes said. ‘My understanding is it came off the back of (Shane) Duffy’s leg which would constitute a goal. On something that’s not conclusive they chose to go against it.’

Brighton should have taken the lead within two minutes but Maupay couldn’t find the finish. That proved costly as West ham charged up the other end and won a corner. Pablo Fornals took it and, with a wicked curl on the cross, all Soucek had to do was help the ball on its way beyond Robert Sanchez.

It was Soucek’s first strike since the opening day of the season in

August. Trailing 1-0, Brighton then lost Jeremy Sarmiento, the 19year-old making his first Premier League start, and Adam Webster — both to muscular injuries.

West ham were inches from making it 2-0 when Vladimir Coufal produced a deep cross. Antonio headed it back for Fornals, whose volley crashed off the crossbar.

Further chances were wasted by Brighton and in the 48th minute, West ham thought they’d made it 2-0. Antonio had seemingly applied the finishing touch after a melee but Brighton’s players were protesting, claiming Craig Dawson had fouled Lallana in the build-up.

VAR Jarred Gillett studied the footage and said there was no foul. But then he started to check for offside. West ham supporters jeered as three minutes ticked by.

Finally, Brighton’s fans could celebrate as it was announced over the tannoy: ‘Goal disallowed.’ Offside against Antonio.

After Lallana missed a glorious chance to make it 1-1, he felt an injury and couldn’t continue. With their allocation of substitutes used up, Brighton were down to 10 men for the rest of the match.

yet even with that disadvantage, they would equalise. Lamptey crossed and Maupay produced an outstanding overhead kick. he sprinted into the away end, which resembled a sea of limbs. What a contrast to their last outing.