Georginio Rutter (£5.6m) rescued a point for Brighton and Hove Albion with a late strike against West Ham United.
Here are our Scout Notes from the Amex Stadium.
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RUTTER FINALLY SCORES
This was not Brighton’s finest match.
For large periods, they looked low on confidence and failed to register a shot on target until the 70th minute. They did, however, pull themselves back into the game, with Rutter finding the net late on.
Back in the first XI after a head injury, it was Rutter’s first goal of the season.
In a match where he took six shots, the Frenchman was consistently involved and took up some very decent positions, with everything flowing through him.
“He played a good game with lots of action. He scored the goal so hopefully it gives him a boost.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Georginio Rutter
Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.5m) claimed the assist for Rutter’s equaliser.
The Dutchman has now blanked in just two of his last 10 matches, with 57 points from Gameweek 6 onwards, the second-most of any defender.
MINTEH EARLY SUB
It wasn’t such an enjoyable afternoon for owners of Yankuba Minteh (£6.3m), however.
Transferred in by over 240,000 managers for Gameweek 15, he blanked for the third straight match.
With just one shot and zero chances created, an unforgettable afternoon became even more regrettable by a substitution in the 71st minute.
We’ve not heard any quotes from Fabian Hurzeler on why the winger was taken off, but it’s the earliest he’s been subbed since Gameweek 1.
Maxim De Cuyper (£4.3m) was withdrawn at the same time, but he fared much better, earning four clean sheet points (the match was goalless at the time of their exits) as well as a share of the bonus.
De Cuyper, who started at left-back in this encounter, almost claimed an assist, too, when Mats Wieffer (£4.9m) missed a sitter from his teasing delivery. The expected goals (xG) on that chance was 0.47.
His replacement, Charalampos Kostoulas (£4.8m) was also bright, racking up four shots in just 18 minutes of football.
“He showed things that he is showing more in training in terms of finding good solutions in narrow spaces, having creativity and making things happen for us. Overall, he is pushing and could play even more minutes for us.” – Fabian Hurzeler on Charalampos Kostoulas
Meanwhile, Lewis Dunk (£4.5m) and Ferdi Kadioglu (£4.4m) both picked up their fourth bookings of the campaign.
BOWEN TOP OF THE SHOTS
West Ham are definitely moving in the right direction under Nuno Espirito Santo, and their draw at the Amex Stadium on Sunday means they have lost just one of their last six matches.
Jarrod Bowen (£7.6m) was once again heavily involved, racking up five goal attempts on the south coast.
Over the last six Gameweeks, he is top of the pile among every FPL asset for shots:
At Brighton, the attacking trio of Bowen, Lucas Paqueta (£5.9m) and Crysencio Summerville (£5.5m) looked dangerous throughout, with the Brazilian’s ability to play through balls to his pacey teammates a constant threat.
After being previously denied one of the solo goals of the season to date, Bowen finally netted his first strike since September, having been assisted by Callum Wilson (£5.8m), who looked sharp upon his second-half introduction.
“Jarrod Bowen is a fantastic player. I am really happy he had a goal to boost his confidence.” – Nuno Espirito Santo on Jarrod Bowen
Despite conceding a very late goal, West Ham were well organised for the most part, with Mateus Fernandes (£5.5m) excellent in Nuno’s 3-4-1-2 formation.
West Ham’s next two fixtures remain tricky (AVL/mci), but the outlook looks much better in Gameweek 18, when they encounter the following ticker-topping run:
