**West Ham United 1-1 Brighton Hove Albion**
West Ham have made something of a habit of riding their luck in recent games, and that was certainly the case in today’s draw against Brighton at the [London Stadium](https://www.claretandhugh.info/london-stadium-bio/).
Whilst the Hammers enjoyed a fair amount of the game in the first half of this Premier League encounter, the second period saw us go into full survival mode.
In the end, it required heroics from Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Łukasz Fabiański as [Brighton & Hove Albion](https://www.claretandhugh.info/west-ham-1-1-brighton-player-ratings/) piled on the pressure in search of a late winner. Fabian Hürzeler introduced a wave of fast, attacking players from his bench, all intent on causing havoc.
In many respects, it was reminiscent of the second half of Monday night’s game against Bournemouth, where the opposition grew in confidence as the second half progressed.
It could also be argued that West Ham got similarly lucky against Wolverhampton Wanderers, who carved out 19 shots against the Hammers and were unlucky not to be awarded at least one penalty.
West Ham need to start dominating games, creating clear-cut opportunities, and playing for more than just 45 minutes if they are to stop relying on luck.
Whilst it’s pleasing to remain undefeated in three games, the performances have been far from convincing. On each occasion, it has felt as if Julen Lopetegui’s team were clinging on, desperately waiting for the final whistle.
There are clearly fitness issues too, with West Ham looking sluggish and knackered towards the end of every game.
That said, not everything is doom and gloom. This current West Ham team are well clear of relegation and have a reasonable points tally. However, if there’s any ambition to finish higher than the current 14th place, we’ll need to start relying on more than just luck.