For an hour, Marko Arnautovic had experienced one of those exasperating outings he occasionally endures. The days he flaps his hands at team-mates and plays on the fringes of the game. As West Ham fell 2-0 down within an hour at home to Brighton, this seemed to be one of those occasions. And then, with all his magnificent power and talent, he came to life. In doing so, he scored twice and rescued West Ham from a miserable start to 2019. His personal fightback started in the 66th minute as he received a pass over the top from substitute Mark Noble. Confronted by the physicality of Shane Duffy, Arnautovic was not overawed. Instead, he backed in, won the tussle and slid the ball underneath David Button in the Brighton goal. Dale Stephens reacted first to get to a second ball in the box and volleyed it into the back of the net to give Brighton the lead Shane Duffy leaped in the air in celebration after netting just two minutes later to double Brighton's advantage Marko Arnautovic got the home side right back into it after providing a tidy finish into the opposite corner to halve the deficit The West Ham forward clashed with Brighton's Lewis Dunk as he tried to retrieve the ball and take it back to the centre circle Arnautovic rescued a point by netting again just two minutes afterwards with an instinctive finish from close range MATCH FACTS, LIVE LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE West Ham (4-2-3-1): Fabianski 5.5; Zabaleta 6, Diop 6, Ogbonna 6, Cresswell 6.5; Rice 6, Obiang 5.5 (Noble 63, 7.5); Snodgrass 5.5 (Antonio 63, 7.5), Anderson 6.5, Arnautovic 8; Carroll 5 (Perez 46, 6) Subs not used: Adrian, Nasri, Masuaku, Diangana Scorers: Arnautovic (66, 68) Booked: NONE Manager: Manuel Pellegrini 6 Brighton (4-2-3-1): Button 6.5; Montoya 6, Dunk 7, Duffy 6.5, Bernardo 5.5 (Bong 73, 6); Stephens 6.5, Propper 6; March 6.5, Gross 7, Locadia 6; Murray 5.5 (Andone 80) Subs not used: Kayal, Bissouma, Knockaert, Balogun, Steele Scorers: Stephens (56), Duffy (58) Booked: March Manager: Chris Hughton 6 Referee: Chris Kavanagh 6 Attendance: 59,870 Marko Arnautovic scored from close range to earn a share of the spoils for West Ham CLICK HERE to see more from Sportsmail's brilliant MATCH ZONE feature. Within two minutes, the scores were level as Noble combined with a second substitute, Michail Antonio, who scurried to the byline and pulled back for Arnautovic to stab home his second. Now the Austrian was in turbo-charge. He harried and harassed the Brighton backline, sliding in as Button cleared with his feet. He then turned to the London Stadium crowd and demanded more from the terraces. West Ham might even have won the match, as Antonio cut inside but blasted over with his left foot and Declan Rice drove high into the side netting. Pellegrini deserved credit, with his changes altering the direction of the game. Noble took a firm grip of midfield and Antonio caused trouble with every forward foray. It was a remarkable turnaround and one that West Ham badly needed after wretchedly switching off at the start of the second half. If the definition of insanity really is to do the same thing again and again and expect different results, then Manuel Pellegrini will start this morning by questioning how his team go about defending set-pieces. This had been pretty average fare by both sides until the 56th minute when West Ham twice dozed off at corner-kicks to allow Brighton a two-goal advantage and seemingly hand Chris Hughton's team back-to-back victories to round off the Christmas period. West Ham duo Mark Noble and Aaron Cresswell scream in appeal after the lineswoman gives a decision against West Ham Arnautovic tries his luck at goal with a powerful curling effort from the edge of the penalty box during the first half Issa Diop reads the game well and quickly gets across to dive in front of Glenn Murray and head the ball away to safety Arnautovic goes down in the area looking for a penalty under the challenge of Lewis Dunk, but the referee waves it away Lukasz Fabianski comes off his line to collect the ball and gets wiped out by his team-mate Pablo Zabaleta The opener came when Issa Diop sloppily conceded a corner-kick and Lukasz Fabianski tamely punched away Pascal Gross' set-piece. Dale Stephens strode onto the scene and his half-volley arrowed through the crowd and into the goal. The lead was shortly doubled, as a deep swinging corner found Shane Duffy, who poked the ball into the far corner. After a revival that saw West Ham win five matches in six games, Pellegrini's team were now on course to lose consecutive games against Burnley and Brighton. Certainly, the first-half had promised little. These two teams have moved safely clear of the relegation zone in recent months and both can look upwards rather than over their shoulder. Yet the quality was desperately low during a dismal half in which neither side created a clear chance of note. Perhaps the low tempo was influenced by the heavy burden of the festive schedule. Both teams appeared run-down, heavy-legged and badly in need of a winter break. Brighton made only one change from their weekend victory over Everton as Glenn Murray replaced Florin Andone up front but the pre-match excitement was to be found on the West Ham team sheet, where Andy Carroll started up front for the first time since January 2 last year. Samir Nasri, meanwhile, made the bench after joining the club following the end of his 18-month drugs ban although he did not get onto the pitch. Andy Carroll complains to referee Chris Kavanagh as bloods pours from his eye after a clash of heads in the first half The West Ham striker has to leave the field of play and change his shorts on the sideline after getting blood on them Solly March makes a bursting run forward down the touchline as Angelo Ogbonna comes across to try and stop him West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini catches the ball with one hand and throws it to one of his players during the second half After six substitute appearances in December, striker Carroll was handed a starting opportunity but it seemed a peculiar game for him. Pitted against Brighton's organised and authoritative defensive pair of Shane Duffy and Lewis Dunk, the conditions did not appear ideal for a swashbuckling Carroll display and the first-half saw the Brighton defence nullify the striker's threat entirely. Carroll is now 29 and this felt like an important evening for the forward to recapture some form. Sadly, service was rare. Caroll's first significant act was to turn a promising West Ham counter-attack into a Brighton set-piece and his influence did not grow too much from there. He had the fewest number of touches on the field, completing four of eight attempted passes, and was substituted at half-time. West Ham's first significant sight of goal came in the 24th minute when Martin Montoya miscued a clearance and Felipe Anderson's snapshot was too central. Arnautovic then unleashed a long-distance curler that was well-held by David Button. The Austrian was clearly saving his greatest impact for later on. Brighton's Davy Propper and Carroll slide in for a 50-50 challenge and both catch each other with their studs West Ham defender Declan Rice relieves the danger by punting the ball up the pitch as March goes to close him down Shane Duffy makes a smart run to the back post and leaps the highest but can't connect with his header in a crowded box All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility