Chris Hughton has doubts over West Ham equaliser in Brighton draw
Wednesday 2 January 2019 23:51, UK
Chris Hughton admitted he had doubts about the legitimacy of West Ham's equaliser in their 2-2 draw with Brighton.
Brighton raced into a 2-0 second-half lead after goals from Dale Stephens and Shane Duffy during Wednesday night's Premier League clash.
However, Marko Arnautovic pulled one back when he latched onto Mark Noble's ball over the top, held off Duffy and expertly finished past Button.
Moments later Antonio reached the byline, before pulling it back for Arnautovic to smash home off the underside of the crossbar.
Replays showed that the ball from Antonio may have been out of play. Hughton admitted he had doubts about whether it should have stood.
"I've seen one angle of it and certainly there was a doubt whether it had gone over or not," he said.
"Somebody else saw another angle and told me they felt it was just in. I'm more disappointed that we allowed it to become a goal.
"We are aware of Antonio's strengths, we are aware of Arnautovic's strengths.
"I thought we defended really well. The few times we didn't they got their goals."
In the end Brighton had to settle for a point to add to the four they gained over Christmas against Everton and Arsenal.
Hughton was proud of the way his players performed.
"Probably what we were guilty of, in a first half where I thought we were really good in possession, is not coming in at half-time leading the game after getting into some very good areas.
"In the end, you're dreading that with the momentum they've got at 2-2, with the crowd behind them, that they'll get the third one.
"But we got back into our game and showed really good composure. I suppose we're looking at a point that isn't really a bad point."
