Brighton & Hove Albion 3 -1 West Ham United
Brighton completed a dominant comeback to sign-off their best ever Premier League campaign with West Ham missing out on a Europa League spot by two-points.
Brighton equalised just five-minutes into the second-half with the ball breaking kindly to Joel Veltman who’s powerful strike slipped under Lukasz Fabianski.
Pascal Gross turned brilliantly to fire the ball into the top-corner giving the Seagulls the lead and Danny Welbeck rose highest to head home from a corner to round-off a dominant Seagulls performance and resign the Hammers to the Conference League.
The Hammers had taken an unlikely lead five-minutes before the half-time whistle as Michail Antonio curled a beautiful effort into the top-left corner of the Seagulls net, a lead which at the time ascended the Hammers to sixth in the table.
While West Ham have achieved two straight years of European football, David Moyes gave scolding post match comments on his sides failure to capitalise on the last European spot.
“We knew the score [Crystal Palace 1-0 Manchester United] at half-time… I thought we would go out there showing we had something to fight for. We didn’t.
“We didn’t look like a side that was fighting for a European place.”
Moyes was also keen to write-off fatigue as an excuse: “Whether the first or last game, you cant play like that.
“They can enjoy their holiday but they know my mood.”
On the flipside Graham Potter was left delighted after leading The Seagulls to their best ever finish and points tally, finishing ninth on 51-points: ” Its been a challenging season. we have to be proud.
“To end up where we have is amazing.
“I arrived three-years ago, if back then somebody told me where we are now, I’d have been delighted.”
