Leandro Trossard has revealed the secret to beating West Ham – get the crowd on their back.
The Hammers were booed off at half-time and full-time as they slipped to a 2-0 defeat against bogey side Brighton.
Alexis Mac Allister’s first-half penalty and Trossard’s breakaway second condemned the hosts to a third straight defeat and left them bottom of the table.
It is West Ham’s worst start to the season in 51 years and continued a bizarre hoodoo against the Seagulls.
Trossard, who scored on his debut against West Ham three years ago, has not been on the losing side in six matches against them, while the Hammers have now had 11 attempts at beating Brighton in the Premier League without success.
“In the first half we played well and obviously with the penalty it was nice to go in front and I think we controlled the majority of the game,” the Belgian told Albion TV.
“You know if you’re 1-0 up at half-time they are going to come out and try to score a goal but we managed it well I think.
“We knew the crowd, if we played well, would maybe get angry with them and we played really well.
“It’s always good when you, as the away team, can get control of the game and it doesn’t help the home team if the fans are not behind you.”
Mac Allister opened the scoring from the spot after debutant Thilo Kehrer had fouled Danny Welbeck, and Trossard killed off the Hammers when he ran on to a delicious flick from Pascal Gross and finished past Lukasz Fabianski.
“It’s a lovely flick, credit to him to get me in behind and then it’s down to me and luckily it went my way,” added Trossard.
“I always try to be as calm as possible. I had time to think and I don’t think sometimes that’s a good thing. I tried to be calm and it was a good finish.”
Hammers left-back Aaron Cresswell knows they need to wake up soon after a sluggish start to the campaign.
“It’s very disappointing,” he told the club website. “We know man to man it is not good enough at the minute.
“It’s a crucial time to get their goal, but we’ve got to react. It’s the same with the second goal – it’s sloppy.”
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