Miserable weather conditions at the Amex were mirrored in the opening exchanges, as West Ham sat back to hit Brighton on the counter.
This almost paid off on the quarter-hour mark when Cryencio Summerville raced in behind, but as he bore down on goal, the figure of Bart Verbruggen smothered his strike with his leg.
Following that opportunity, neither side was able to find any rhythm as the conditions turned the contest into a stop-start affair with little action in either final third.
With a lack of goalmouth activity, the two sets of players headed down the tunnel at half-time deadlocked, which was only the second time in 14 league games the Seagulls have had a goalless game at the break.
Brighton had scored a pre-round league-high 17 second-half goals this season, and before today, the Hammers had conceded an average of two goals per game in the PL this season, so at least one goal looked likely in the second period.
It was the away side who came close to an opening following the restart as Verbruggen was called into action, brilliantly stepping up to make a double save. Jarrod Bowen had done well to shrug off the surrounding defenders before firing at goal, but the Brighton stopper got down low to thwart him and pick himself up to turn Summerville’s rebound over the bar.
Fabian Hurzeler would have been disappointed by his side’s performance by the hour mark, especially as Alphonse Areola hadn’t had a save to make by 65 minutes.
The one-way action continued as the Hammers probed for the breakthrough, and it duly arrived in the 73rd minute after substitute Callum Wilson broke forward on the counter and slipped in Bowen, who slid the ball past Verbruggen and into the far corner from a tight angle.
Searching for an immediate response, Brighton finally forced Areola into a save minutes later when Max Kilman deflected a cross into the path of his goalkeeper, who palmed the ball onto the upright.
The home side rallied for an equaliser and just as they have done so many times this season, the Seagulls netted in the second half – this time in stoppage time through Georginio Rutter, who pounced on a goalmouth scramble to slam home the leveller.
Espirito Santo’s men will be left disappointed as they were denied the opportunity to move out of the relegation places, while Brighton move up into seventh, just two points off the top four.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Bart Verbruggen (Brighton)