West Ham United 0-0 Brighton & Hove Albion: Dour goalless draw at London Stadium

West Ham and Brighton shared the points in a dour Premier League goalless draw at London Stadium.

But they were unable to break through a West Ham defence which has now kept four consecutive clean sheets.

A point moves Brighton into seventh place, above Manchester United, while West Ham are three points further ahead in sixth.

In a first half low on quality and chances, West Ham came closest to taking the lead when James Ward-Prowse’s powerful volley was saved by the legs of Jason Steele.

For Brighton, Jack Hinshelwood and Pascal Gross were both denied by point-blank stops from home keeper Alphonse Areola.

Brighton continued to dominate possession after the break, Areola again having to react sharply to Pervis Estupinan’s low shot on 55 minutes before Joao Pedro shot straight at the Frenchman after a mazy run.

Tomas Soucek poked wide from six yards in West Ham’s clearest second-half chance, before Jakub Moder slashed over for Brighton from close range in the closing minutes.

Brighton finally keep league clean sheet

While this was the first match of 2024 for both sides, it was also the final Premier League fixture of the hectic festive period – which perhaps played a role in the low tempo and lack of opportunities.

West Ham missed the injured Lucas Paqueta, while there are also signs that Mohammed Kudus will be a big loss when he is on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Ghana.

Vladimir Coufal, amid reports he is unhappy with his contract situation and seeking a move away from London Stadium in January, was also absent from the matchday squad.

In poor conditions brought about by Storm Henk, neither side were able to raise enough energy to claim three points as both look ahead to a new year which has the potential for much more excitement.

Both sides remain firmly in the hunt for European qualification – and there is the chance they could meet in the latter stages of the Europa League, having won their respective groups to gain automatic passage to the last 16.

They also both had reasons to celebrate a clean sheet – for West Ham, their fourth successive shutout in the Premier League equals their club record.

Brighton, meanwhile, ended a club-record run of 23 successive league games without keeping a clean sheet, despite the absence of defender and captain Lewis Dunk through suspension.

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