Brighton's Mitoma and Baleba strike late to sink West Ham

Brighton & Hove Albion's Kaoru Mitoma and Carlos Baleba struck late goals in a thrilling 3-2 Premier League victory over West Ham United that ended their run of seven successive games without a victory across all competitions.

West Ham appeared poised to claim the points after second-half goals from Mohammed Kudus and Tomas Soucek cancelled out an early strike by Brighton's Yasin Ayari.

But in a breathless finish, Mitoma nodded in from close range in the 89th minute after Brajan Gruda headed the ball across the face of goal.

Baleba then unleashed a blistering shot from distance into the top corner in the 92nd before celebrating with a back-flip.

The goal prompted a frenzied reaction inside the Amex Stadium as Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler raced down the touchline throwing a fist into the air.

"That was good fun," Brighton captain Lewis Dunk told Sky Sports. "We started excellently but once we went 1-0 up we stopped playing and the intensity dropped. Second half they started better but we showed character to win the game.

"I am just buzzing. We have shown great character after a tough run. It is massive to keep us in the race to where we want to go," he added.

Brighton remain ninth on 51 points as they seek a European place, while Graham Potter's West Ham, without a victory in seven league games, are languishing 17th with 36.

Ayari put Brighton ahead in the 13th minute with a screamer from the edge of the 18-yard box into the top corner that West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola had little chance of stopping.

Kudus levelled in the 48th minute after Jarrod Bowen drove to the byline before threading a pinpoint pass to Kudus, whose strike from the top of the six-yard box went through keeper Bart Verbruggen's legs.

Bowen then whipped in a cross that Soucek headed home after 83 minutes that had West Ham celebrating what they thought was a long-awaited victory before Brighton's late-game heroics.

Bowen's first assist made him West Ham's all-time Premier League leader, while his second gave him 37 for his career.