Brighton's Mitoma and Baleba strike late to sink West Ham

BRIGHTON, England :Brighton & Hove Albion's Kaoru Mitoma and Carlos Baleba scored late goals to snatch a thrilling 3-2 Premier League victory over visiting West Ham United that ended their side's run of seven successive games without a victory in all competitions.

West Ham appeared poised to claim the points after second-half goals from Mohammed Kudus and Tomas Soucek cancelled out an early strike by Brighton's Yasin Ayari.

But in a breathless finish, Mitoma nodded home from close range in the 89th minute after Brajan Gruda headed the ball across the face of goal.

Baleba then unleashed a blistering shot from distance into the top corner in the 92nd before celebrating with a back-flip.

The goal prompted a frenzied reaction inside the Amex Stadium as Brighton boss Fabian Huerzeler raced down the touchline throwing a fist into the air.

"I didn't enjoy it because shortly before the end we were 2-2 and we wanted to win. But the moment when we scored was unbelievable," Huerzeler told Sky Sports.

"You saw the reaction from the players, crowd, the staff and fans, we really wanted to win. This was a special moment."

Brighton remain ninth on 51 points as they seek a European place, while Graham Potter's West Ham, without a victory in seven league games, are languishing 17th with 36.

That was good fun," Brighton captain Lewis Dunk told Sky. "We started excellently but once we went 1-0 up we stopped playing and the intensity dropped. Second half they started better but we showed character to win the game.

"I am just buzzing. We have shown great character after a tough run. It is massive to keep us in the race to where we want to go," he added.

Ayari put Brighton ahead after 13 minutes with a screamer from the edge of the 18-yard box into the