Crystal Palace vs West Ham: The Hammers raced out to a 3-0 halftime lead before holding on for dear life and a 3-2 victory over the Eagles at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
[ MORE: How to watch PL in USA ]
Michail Antonio and Manuel Lanzini (times two) got the goals for West Ham, as they appeared set for a comfortable cruise, but Odsonne Edouard and Michael Olise each scored inside the final 10 minutes to set up a frantic finish, which was almost capped off by Jean-Philippe Mateta’s bicycle kick attempt from the edge of the penalty area.
The victory pushes West Ham (34 points) back into 5th place in the Premier League table, above Tottenham (33), who were victorious earlier on Saturday, by one point. West Ham have, however, played two more games than Spurs, as have 4th-place Arsenal (35) above them. Crystal Palace (23 points) hold steady in 11th.
Crystal Palace vs West Ham final score, stats, results
Final score: Crystal Palace 2, West Ham 3
Goal scorers: Crystal Palace (Edouard 83', Olise 90'), West Ham (Antonio 22', Lanzini 25', 45'+4 - PK)
Shots: Crystal Palace 22, West Ham 10
Shots on target: Crystal Palace 6, West Ham 5
Possession: Crystal Palace 62%, West Ham 38%
3 things we learned - Crystal Palace vs West Ham
1. Back-to-back blowouts (nearly): After starting the season brilliantly and establishing themselves as top-four contenders once again, West Ham hit a rough patch from mid-November to Boxing Day as they won just one of seven in the Premier League and slipped to 6th in the table. The 4-1 win over Watford midweek raised a few eyebrows, but that was against one of the Premier League’s worst defenses. What would they do against a rigorously drilled side like Crystal Palace? Turns out, much of the same (for a half, at least). Antonio is catching fire once again (more on that in a moment), the defense is tightening was tightening back up for 80 minutes, and David Moyes will be feeling hopeful for what 2022 brings to east London.
2. Woeful Palace performance: It’s rare and odd to see this Crystal Palace side simply not turn up, to offer little or no resistance from the start and feebly accept defeat. The absences of Conor Gallagher and Cheikhou Kouyate (both due to illness and/or COVID-19) are devastating to Patrick Vieira’s plans, and there was little they could do to paper over those cracks on Saturday. West Ham had time in possession to do as they pleased, without the all-action duo buzzing around and breaking up play. They’ll be back and Palace will be better for it, but that makes this woeful display no less eye-opening.
3. All that hard work nearly undone: Palace’s comeback didn’t just start when Edouard scored in the 83rd minute; the Eagles were immediately on the front foot and in control from the start of the second half. West Ham had two shots in the second half, while Palace pushed numbers forward and had 10 of their own. We saw the best and the worst of West Ham over the course of 90 minutes.
Man of the Match: Manuel Lanzini - Got two of Palace’s three goals, should have had an assist and remains the ace up Moyes’ sleeve, should he have a big second half of the season.
Crystal Palace vs West Ham highlights
Michail Antonio pokes Benrahma’s ball past Guaita for 1-0 (goal video)
After a bit of a downturn in production (just one goal and two assists in his last 10 Premier League appearances after six in his first eight this season), Antonio now has two goals and one assist in his last three outings. If he is indeed finding his form again, the top-four race just got a lot more interesting.
Manuel Lanzini dances free to volley home for 2-0 (goal video)
Perhaps the first touch lets Lanzini down here and makes the end product look more skillful than it needed to be, but that doesn’t take away from the fact he still pulled it off and finished like that.
[ VIDEO: PL highlights ]
Manuel Lanzini makes it 3-0 from the penalty spot (goal video)
Game, set, match.
Odsonne Edouard breathes life into Crystal Palace (goal video)
The ball from Olise was fantastic, and the finish had to be just as good. It was.
