CRYSTAL PALACE 1 WEST HAM UNITED 3

BY AYODELE ODUMADE AT SELHURST PARK

In a very entertaining London Derby in South London, West Ham beat a resolute Crystal Palace side that were handicapped by the sending off of Dwight Gayle for a needless foul when already on a yellow card.  The score line may not be a true reflection of what happened but the Hammers deserved to win due to their patience and excellent passing game.

There was a time when the Crystal Palace fans arrived for a home game with the trepidation of another potential six pointer to stave off relegation.  Nowadays the expectations are quite different due to the excellent start they have had and their astute manager who is making things happen and is being touted as a possible future England Manager.

West Ham on the other hand have different expectations as well under their new manager Slaven Bilic.  A Hammers side who have walked through the valley of the shadow of death at places like Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool and have come away with maximum points, came to Selhurst Park with no fear at all.

From the first blast of the whistle, the Hammers went on the offensive and could have taken the lead.  Manuel Lanzini received a pass on the left and crossed it into the Palace area, however Dimitri Payet stretched for the ball but could not quite make contact.  That was an early warning for Palace.

In the 23^rd minute, Victor Moses opened up the Palace defence like the Red Sea with a pass to Carl Jenkinson who calmly slotted the ball past Wayne Hennessey to give the Hammers the lead.  That was Jenkinson’s second goal in two games. However, within a minute, he went from hero to villain as he brought Wilfred Zaha down inside the box and Palace were awarded a penalty. 

Yohann Cabaye scored but Mark Clattenburg ordered a retake due to encroachment. Cabaye repeated the trick again hitting his penalty to the same side, though Adrian appeared to get a hand on the ball, it went in to bring the Eagles level.

Shortly before the break, an attacking move developed for Palace inside their half as Jason Puncheon broke from his half with the ball and played it to Zaha, but unfortunately the pass was slightly behind him and by the time he readjusted himself to shoot, the Hammers had got back in numbers, swarmed around him and the chance had gone.

A minute, later Palace were down to ten men as Dwight Gayle was shown a second yellow card for a late tackle on Cheikou Kouyate.  That was the game changer. The game remained level at the break.

Palace made a change at the start of the second half replacing Zaha with Bakary Sako.  Palace’s game plan was two banks of four with Yanick Bolasie alone upfront. With a man over, West Ham patiently passed the ball around looking for an opening.  They found one midway through the second half from a Jenkinson cross to Diafra Sakho, but his header shaved the post of Hennessey’s goal.

Palace defended resolutely with the backs against the wall until the last minute, when Mauro Zarate dinked the ball to the back post, Andy Carroll headed it back into the area to keep the ball alive and Lanzini swept the ball home the break the hearts of the Eagles fans who had seen their team limit West Ham to just one chance until then.

Palace went chasing for an equalizer in added time and were finished off by the Hammers when Lanzini passed to Payet who was a class apart yet again. He waited for the keeper to commit himself before dinking it over him and sending the East End fans into raptures of delight.

 Alan Pardew said: “It was a cracking game.  It was to and fro.  We were brilliant in the second half but they still managed to find a way. I have got nothing but praise for my players.”   

A delighted Slaven Bilic said: “We wanted to score a goal as soon as possible but it does not work like that. You have got to be patient. You have to stretch them. You have to play with two touches and if possible one. It is not easy to score against a team that is defending with nine.  We came here with respect for them.  They are doing really good. We have no expectations. Our expectations are to stay in the league.  It is still early days and not late May.”

Despite Bilic’s comments, West Ham maintain their place in the top four.  If they manage to cut out their mistakes in the home games, who knows what they might achieve?