MILIVOJEVIC’S PALACE
West Ham 1 Crystal Palace 2
Again, the Palace. This team who, under Patrick Viera, have worked the Arsenal hoodoo over West Ham at London Stadium. Devoid of their genie loanee Conor Gallagher, it is a team with other can-opening goal merchants. Eze and Zaha are not opportunists to mess with. And guess what? They haven’t won away since April and haven’t scored in their last three away games. Guess we all know what that means.
Fabianski is the busier of the two goalkeepers in the first twenty minutes, fielding a tricky free kick from Eze and a few minutes later nervously watching the same player’s turn and shot go just a foot wide. Then, just while the cynics are consulting their form stop watches, Paquetá feeds Benrahma, and the defence opens up to allow him a shot at goal which he drills into the top corner.
Goooooooaaaaaaaaaal!
That is somewhat incredibly Saïd Benrahma’s one hundredth game for the Hammers, and that is a goal 100% against the run of play.
Hammers sit on the lead somewhat and so, twenty minutes later, when Dawson’s optimistic ball out to Kehrer sees the German robbed by Eze, his clever ball through to Zaha is pumped past Fabianski. Dawson’s minimal attention ensures that the central striker is unhurried in his finish, spectacular though it is.
Moyes is concerned enough about another lacklustre home performance to bring Antonio, Lanzini and Downes on, but this seems to paradoxically inspire Palace for whom Zaha bursts through only to be this time robbed by a last minute save tackle from Dawson.
Lanzini now puts Antonio through, and though Guéhi’s challenge is initially judged worthy of a penalty kick, the shining steed of VAR leaps to the rescue to deny the momentary penalty, much to the joy and relief of the Palace defenders. At the other end ex-Hammer Jordan Ayew hits in a low cross that Dawson almost slots past Fabianski.
In the first minute of injury time, Antonio bursts wide down the right but, with Bowen, Downes, Fornals and Kehrer salivating in the middle for a decent ball, merely chips the ball into the keeper’s outstretched hands. The ball out finds Eze who squares to Zaha and his ball wide to Olisé is chipped over Fabianski into the top corner, spinning up and home via a heavy deflection from the outstretched boot of Cresswell.
Great.
The promise of the late winner becomes anything but for Hammers, after another disappointing and lifeless performance. At least we have another two stabs at winning in the week before the World Cup break.
1 Lucasz Fabianski, 3 Aaron Cresswell, 4 Kurt Zouma, 15 Craig Dawson, 24 Thilo Kehrer, 12 Flynn Downes, 22 Saïd Benrahma, 28 Tomas Souček, 41 Declan Rice (captain), 20 Jarrod Bowen, 7 Gianluca Scamacca
Substitutes: 9 Michail Antonio, 10 Manuel Lanzini, 12 Flynn Downes, 8 Pablo Fornals
Goalscorer: Saïd Benrahma
