Carlos Baleba completed a late comeback to secure Brighton a dramatic 3-2 victory over West Ham at the Amex Stadium on Saturday.

West Ham, who are safe from any relegation worries thanks to Ipswich Town's loss to Newcastle United, thought they had secured a first win in just under two months, but Brighton had other plans.

Yasin Ayari had given the Seagulls a 13th-minute lead on Saturday, but West Ham responded well, with Tomas Soucek smacking the crossbar with a towering header shortly after.

Simon Adingra saw a second Brighton goal disallowed in the 36th minute. Alphonse Areola had made a double save to deny Pervis Estupinan and Mats Wieffer before the winger rifled in, but a VAR check confirmed Danny Welbeck had interfered with the initial effort from an offside position.

West Ham's revival began in the second half, with Mohammed Kudus slotting Jarrod Bowen's low cross through Bart Verbruggen's legs just three minutes after the restart.

Tomas Soucek completed their comeback in the 83rd minute, rising high in the crowd at the far post to thump Bowen's curling delivery into the net.

However, Kaoru Mitoma equalised in the 89th minute, nodding in from close range after being left unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box. 

Baleba then sent the home fans into raptures with his stunning stoppage-time strike from distance, leaving former Brighton boss Graham Potter scratching his head on the sidelines.

Brighton move up to ninth, keeping their European hopes alive, while West Ham stay 17th, though they are 15 points clear of the bottom three with only four games left to play.

Data Debrief: Unhappy return for Potter

West Ham's last win came back on February 27, and Potter thought they had finally stopped that rot, only for a late collapse to cause them heartbreak.

The Hammers have now lost three successive Premier League away games for the first time since May last year, while only the bottom three have earned fewer points than them since Potter took over (13). 

In fact, he has now lost both Premier League games against his former side, having also suffered a 4-1 defeat as Chelsea manager in October 2022.

That should not take away from Brighton's determination to earn three points, though. Only in 2022-23 (62) and 1981-82 (52 - three points per win) have they earned more points in a top-flight season than their 51 this term.

Mitoma played his part off the bench; six of his nine Premier League goals for this season have come in 2025, netting as a substitute in each of his last two appearances.