West Ham and Brighton played to a scoreless draw in the Premier League at London Stadium, sharing the points.
In their opening game of the year, Brighton possessed the most of the ball and had more opportunities.
However, they could not penetrate a West Ham defense that has now preserved four straight clean sheets.
Brighton climbs to seventh place, one point ahead of Manchester United, while West Ham is three points ahead in sixth.
James Ward-Prowse's strong volley was thwarted by Jason Steele's legs as West Ham went close to taking the lead in a first half devoid of creativity and opportunities.
Brighton's Alphonse Areola made excellent saves to deny Jack Hinshelwood and Pascal Gross at close range.
After the break, Brighton maintained their possession advantage. On minute 55, Areola had to make another quick reaction to a low shot by Pervis Estupinan, and on the following play, Joao Pedro took a wild run and shot directly at the Frenchman.
The most obvious chance for West Ham to score in the second half went to Tomas Soucek, who missed it from six yards out. In the last minutes, Jakub Moder scored a close-range goal for Brighton.
Finally, Brighton maintains a league clean sheet.
Although it was the first game of 2024 for both teams, the sluggish tempo and lack of opportunities may have been caused by the fact that it was the last Premier League match of the busy holiday season.
Lucas Paqueta's injury prevented West Ham from using him, and there are indications that Mohammed Kudus may be a significant loss for Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Vladimir Coufal was not included in the matchday squad, according to allegations that he is not satisfied with his contract status and wants to leave London Stadium in January.
As both teams prepare for a new year that may bring forth even more excitement, neither was able to muster the energy to win three points in the unfavorable conditions brought on by Storm Henk.
Both teams are still very much pursuing European qualifying, and they may cross paths later in the Europa League after winning their respective groups and earning automatic entry into the round of 16.
Both teams had cause to rejoice after keeping a clean sheet; for West Ham, it was their fourth straight shutout in the Premier League, matching a club record.
In contrast, Brighton ended a club-record 23 straight league games without maintaining a clean sheet, even without the absence of captain and defender Lewis Dunk.