West Ham 0-0 Brighton: New year, new clean sheet keeping Albion

How is your New Year’s Resolution going? If Roberto De Zerbi had wanted 2024 to be the year Brighton finally keep a Premier League clean sheet, then his Seagulls team got off to a flying start in their 0-0 draw away at West Ham United.

A shutout at the London Stadium was the first time the Albion had not conceded a goal in a Premier League fixture in the 2023-24 season.

It ended a club record run of 25 games without a clean sheet, going all the way back to the 3-0 win away at Arsenal in May.

Conceding one or two goals a game and relying on your forward players to outscore the opposition might make for entertaining stuff for fans and neutrals. But if we are honest, it is probably not a conducive way to regularly winning games of football at the highest level.

Sir Alex Ferguson famously said “attack wins you games, defence wins you titles.” And Brighton’s defensive record in the current campaign has long been a very obvious area for improvement.

What made the Albion’s clean sheet in West Ham 0-0 Brighton most impressive was the circumstances it arrived in. No Lewis Dunk. No Igor Julio. No Joel Veltman. No Tariq Lamptey.

Roberto De Zerbi had Jan Paul van Hecke as his only fully fit centre back to pick from. Pervis Estupinan was his only natural full back.

And yet just like how he found a way to play Spurs without any wingers, De Zerbi once again made the most of what looked a tricky situation with another tactical masterclass. Just in case you were in any doubt about how good Brighton’s charismatic Italian head coach is.

Adam Webster came into the starting XI despite De Zerbi saying he would only be fit enough for the bench having not kicked a ball in competitive action since the start of November.

For a player who notoriously struggles on his return after long layoffs, Webster did well until the lack of game time caught up with him and he departed with cramp in both legs. Ouch.

Estupinan had to shift to centre back for the final 15 minutes or so after Webster left the action with James Milner and Jack Hinshelwood as makeshift full backs.

Watching Hinshelwood, it is hard to believe he is not actually a right back. He looks like he has been playing there at Premier League level for hundreds of games rather than the handful he has been thrust into because of the Albion’s injury crisis.

De Zerbi has publicly said he believes Hinshelwood’s best position is in the middle of the park. Should Hinshelwood prove even better there than as a full back, his potential is frightening.

Certainly do not expect him to be scoring an own goal from 30 yards against Colchester United – ala father Adam – anytime soon.

The only thing Brighton lacked in their 0-0 draw at West Ham was a cutting edge in front of goal, particularly in the second half.

There were plenty of openings created after the break, some of which you may have reasonably expected any of Kaoru Mitoma, Simon Adingra, Ansu Fati, Julio Enciso or Solly March to put away. Another reminder of the talent De Zerbi is having to cope without currently.

The first half in contrast was something of a non event. Nobody could have blamed any neutrals watching on Sky Sports for switching over to the darts instead, where 16-year-old Luke Littler shocked Rob Cross to reach the PDC World Championship Final.

15 miles away from Alexander Palace and there were a handful of teenagers having a very different evening in the West Ham section to the right of the away end in the upper tier.

45 minutes of almost unrelenting homophobia provided a lowly chorus to accompany the drabness of the first half. Highlights included “You only sing when you swallow” which makes no sense as it is impossible and some weird ditty about Brighton fans having sex with their uncle.

There was the classic “Does you boyfriend know your here” and we even got a “We pay your benefits”, an interesting take on the average house price in Brighton & Hove being £508,519 in 2023.

How these West Ham fans have made it so far in life being quite so thick remains a mystery. One can only hope they received a dictionary for Christmas to expand their vocabulary beyond “f***ing c**t” and the depressing language of homophobic abuse.

Jason Steele made two fine first half saves, although his tip onto the post from Jarrod Bowen proved not to be necessary as the offside flag went up after Danny Dyer’s son-in-law got his shot away.

Alphonse Areola in the West Ham goal meanwhile made routine stops from Facundo Buonanotte, Hinshelwood and Pascal Gross.

After the break, it was all Albion. Buonanotte wanted a penalty when he thought Emerson Palmieri had blocked a low cross with his arm.

Areola then made further saves from Danny Welbeck and Joao Pedro, followed by Evan Ferguson firing inches wide within minutes of his introduction for Welbeck.

Tomas Soucek blocked from Adam Lallana and Jakub Moder fired over on the volley. When Lallana then forced Areola into arguably his best save of the night, you began to think that West Ham were going to sneak a totally underserved goal against the run of play.

Heaven knows, we have seen that happen enough times before to Brighton. But not so on this occasion. New year, new clean sheet keeping Albion.

Some not-so-happy Hammers fans booed their side off at full time, possibly the loudest contribution of the night from home supporters.

So dead was the atmosphere at times you could actually hear the players shouting to each other. What a horrible stadium to watch football in.

That disgruntled reaction come the final whistle was definite compliment for the domination and control the Albion had shown to force every home player behind the ball at points through the second half.

After a something of a sticky patch, it was the same sort of domination and control Brighton displayed post-Christmas last season on their march into the top six.

With 20 days off until the Albion’s next Premier League assignment, a chance to clear the injury backlog, the January transfer window to (hopefully) bolster the squad and sixth place just three points away, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic into 2024.

Happy new year. And happy clean sheet.