Mac Allister leads Brighton rout of West Ham to pile more pressure on Moyes

Barely five minutes of the second half had elapsed when David Moyes must have realised it wasn’t going to be his day. With West Ham trailing to a penalty from Alexis Mac Allister – his first Premier League goal since winning the World Cup with Argentina – the visitors came close to stealing possession in the Brighton penalty area as they pressed for an equaliser.

But, in a matter of seconds, the ball was down the other end after a succession of quick passes allowed Roberto De Zerbi’s side to break the press, with Joël Veltman eventually touching home the resulting corner from Mac Allister’s flick-on to double their lead. Further goals from Kaoru Mitoma and the substitute Danny Welbeck meant Brighton made it an incredible 12 matches unbeaten against West Ham in the top-flight to strengthen their hopes of European qualification.

Yet for Moyes, who left the pitch to a chorus of “you don’t know what you’re doing” from sections of the away support, it was a deeply concerning defeat that leaves West Ham teetering on the brink of the relegation zone once more.

De Zerbi entrusted his assistants Andrea Maldera and Enrico Venturelli – fluent in Italian, English, Russian and Spanish – with filling his shoes on the touchline as he served a one-match ban. The Italian had shrugged off the importance of being forced to watch on from the stands because “the players know very well what they have to do”, as the Brighton manager made three changes from the side that beat Stoke in the FA Cup.

That certainly hasn’t always been the case with West Ham this season, although even after being knocked out of the Cup in midweek by Manchester United, they arrived on the south coast in a hopeful mood after their crushing win over Nottingham Forest