West Ham hit the top after bringing Brighton’s flying start to an abrupt end

West Ham top of the Premier League, their dreadful record against Brighton reaching a spectacular end, and a victory that must be registered as a tactical triumph for David Moyes. Smash-and-grab, old-style pragmatism picked apart the new-wave counterpress that has made Roberto De Zerbi the name to drop among football intellectual circles.

“Are you watching Declan Rice?” asked the away fans, perhaps a tad ungratefully since James Ward-Prowse, bought with Rice’s transfer fee, had opened the scoring. Rice’s replacement in defensive midfield, Edson Álvarez, was another outstanding performer. Brighton dominated possession but had no answer to the quality of West Ham’s attack. Lucas Paquetá, who would have joined Rice in exiting the club had other matters not intervened, played creative director, and often off a minimal supply as Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio, the other scorers, showed a ruthlessness in attack that Brighton failed to emulate.

Evan Ferguson, perhaps the next Brighton player to be sold for a nine-figure sum, made his first start of the season against the club who profited from the last one, Moisés Caicedo, having a nightmare on his Chelsea debut. The Irish teenager was partnered in attack by Danny Welbeck, who sat deeper but was flanked by two wingers in what often resembled an old-style 4-2-4 formation, De Zerbi continuing to rip up the rulebook. Bart Verbruggen, a 21-year-old Dutch Under-21 international goalkeeper, was another debutant, with Jason Steele on the bench.

Paquetá, playing off the left-hand side, made a couple of early flashes to expose Brighton’s risk-taking approach. First he looped a header over and then, employing the vision that had Pep Guardiola coveting his services, picked out Antonio with a pass the lone striker should have done better with.

Antonio was the supplier of West Ham’s first goal, scored as Brighton struggled to settle. Billy Gilmour’s raking drive, set up by Pervis Estupiñán, was the home side’s first shot on goal but it almost immediately preceded Adam Webster tussling with Antonio on the touchline and getting in a terrible mess. Ward-Prowse scored his first West Ham goal – his 50th in the Premier League – at the second attempt.

That began a fizzing spell of action, Ferguson’s volley saved by Alphonse Areola and Ward-Prowse booked for an aggressive tackle on Gilmour, before the goalscorer threw himself in front of a drive by the same opponent. West Ham’s stolid determination was paying off, such that they led 1-0 in the 30th minute with only 13 completed passes to Brighton’s 220.

The home fans boiled with frustration and De Zerbi’s exhortations to his bench as he paced the sideline began to increase in volume and frequency. His team could not locate the final ball to breach a defence inviting them on but finding security in numbers. Kaoru Mitoma and Solly March were starved of space into which they could make their trademark runs, meaning James Milner, bombing on from right-back, had to provide the missing width.

Moyes’s plan could not have been working better – although in the opening seconds of the second half, when Mitoma escaped down the left and laid up Ferguson for a downward header that Areola made a great save from, it was he who became the antsy manager in the technical area. Brighton fans howled with outrage when Paquetá’s shoulder barge on Estupiñán – perfectly legal – went unpunished. Their mood was soon to darken.

Brighton’s relentless adventuring can leave serious gaps at the back. Both Bowen and Antonio blew decent chances, while Paquetá also attempted a volley that Verbruggen saved well. There was no such chance with West Ham’s second goal, created by Paquetá’s brilliant control. The Brazilian then took a beat before playing in Bowen, who angled his finish with the outside of his left foot.

Next came a goal from Antonio, which was deserved after an expert display in leading the line. This time it was Bowen’s touch that played its part before Antonio bullied Webster – again – in the move’s completion.

Pascal Gross’s neat finish reduced the deficit and gave rise to hopes of an unlikely comeback as Brighton again dominated possession. As 90 minutes loomed, Joël Veltman’s volley was thwarted by Areola, who then made an even better stop from Ferguson, as another Hammer inspired in an outstanding start to their season.