C Palace 4 – 3 West Ham

April 29, 2023 admin

Crystal Palace edged closer to mathematical safety as they returned to winning ways with a thrilling 4-3 victory over West Ham at Selhurst Park.

Palace produced a scintillating response to Tomas Soucek’s early opener as Jordan Ayew, Wilfried Zaha and Jeffrey Schlupp struck in the space of 15 first-half minutes to seize control of the game, but the Eagles’ vulnerability at set-pieces would repeatedly offer West Ham lifelines.

After Michail Antonio reduced the deficit from a corner before the break, Palace restored their two-goal lead midway through the second half, with Eberechi Eze winning and converting a penalty. But back came West Ham again, with Nayef Aguerd nodding in to atone for his foul on Eze and set up a grandstand finale.

West Ham’s potency at set-pieces was not matched by their overall attacking output, though, as Palace held on for a first Premier League win in three which lifts them up to 11th in the table and sees Roy Hodgson’s side reach the coveted 40-point mark with four games to play. West Ham remain 15th, five points clear of the relegation zone with five games left to guarantee safety.

Palace edge seven-goal West Ham thriller as safety nears

After a 15-minute delay to kick-off due to turnstile issues at Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace started as though they were making up for lost time in attack but paid the price for being careless in defence as West Ham took the lead. Michael Olise’s poor defensive header from a corner fell for Soucek, who lashed in his third goal of the season from 12 yards.

Palace’s response was swift and ruthless, with Ayew firing a shot in at the near post to restore parity five minutes later before Zaha, making his first since April 1, hooked in at the back post to complete the turnaround on 20 minutes.

West Ham’s loss of defender Kurt Zouma to injury was compounded two minutes later when Schlupp dispossessed the dithering Soucek and raced clear before slotting in Palace’s third.

But Palace’s frailty at dead balls came back to haunt them as Antonio reduced the arrears with a close-range header after Soucek had flicked a corner on at the near post.

Palace were aggrieved not to be awarded a penalty in first-half stoppage time after Zaha was hauled down in the area by Vladimir Coufal, but referee Craig Pawson did point to the spot on 66 minutes after Aguerd was adjudged to have tugged Eze as he raced through on goal.

After a VAR review Eze stepped up and sent Lukasz Fabianski the wrong way as Palace established a 4-2 lead. It would last just six minutes, with Soucek flicking another corner on at the near post for Aguerd to bundle into the Palace net, but it proved too little, too late for the below-par Hammers to stage a comeback.