West Ham United's hopes of a top-four finish in the Premier League suffered another setback on Saturday when they were held to a 1-1 draw at Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Hammers travelled to the Amex Stadium having lost three of their previous four league games, and needed a late equaliser from Said Benrahma to cancel out Danny Welbeck's 84th-minute goal.
The result left West Ham sixth on 59 points from 36 games, five adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea with two matches left and one behind fifth-placed Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
"It's obviously horrible because we had the Champions League in our sights," West Ham midfielder Declan Rice told Sky Sports. "We can't be relying on other teams to lose. We've drawn too many and lost a few."
When the match seemed to be heading for a goalless draw, Welbeck gave Brighton the lead with a dinked finish for his 50th Premier League goal but their joy was short-lived as Benrahma picked up a loose ball and curled it past keeper Robert Sanchez.
West Ham only secured survival in their penultimate game of last season, but have posed an unexpected challenge for Europe and can still secure a place in the Europa League should they win their final two games.
"This season has been outstanding," added Rice.
"We learned to win ugly this year. It's been a rollercoaster but we can still finish on a high."
Brighton stayed 17th on 38 points.
