West Ham United vs Crystal Palace. Premier League.
London Stadium.
Report and highlights as Mohammed Kudus scored early in the first half to give West Ham the lead; Odsonne Edouard equalised after an error from Konstantinos Mavropanos; West Ham had an early second half goal ruled out for offside; Emerson also went close to a Hammers second
Sunday 3 December 2023 17:26, UK
Goals in either half from Mohammed Kudus and Odsonne Edouard saw the spoils shared in a 1-1 draw between West Ham and Crystal Palace.
The two sides went into the game in contrasting form - West Ham had won their last four in all competitions, including a midweek Europa League victory, while Crystal Palace had lost their last two Premier League matches.
Although the Eagles started the better on their short trip to east London, Kudus' fine strike in the 13th minute saw the hosts ahead. However, Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone could have done better as the effort flashed through his hand.
But Palace equalised with their first shot on target of the game. It was an horrendously lax pass from Konstantinos Mavropanos that saw Edouard stride through on goal and dispatch into the far corner.
The result moves neither team further up the table. West Ham remain in ninth place, moving on to 21 points. Crystal Palace stay in 12th with 16 points, nine clear of the relegation places.
Crystal Palace began the game well - but found themselves behind early on. With their first shot, Kudus gave West Ham the lead. It was a fine ball from the back to find Vladimir Coufal down the right wing.
He cut the ball back for the incoming Kudus, who sent a fierce strike goalwards, taking a deflection on the way through to whistle through Johnstone's fingertips.
West Ham could have doubled their lead soon after. A superb long pass from Nayef Aguerd picked out Jarrod Bowen's forward run, but the Crystal Palace defence managed to poke the ball safely back to their goalkeeper.
The visitors' best effort of the opening period came with 10 minutes of the half to play. Joachim Andersen sent a free-kick into the area, which deflected off the wall before spinning just wide of the far post.
West Ham thought they had doubled their lead immediately after the break. An offside Tomas Soucek took a swing at Kudus' bobbling cross, which nestled into the far corner. However, the flag was rightly up and the goal was ruled out.
Not long after, Palace equalised. It was a lackadaisical moment from Mavropanos as his poor pass was collected by Edouard. The forward then strode into the box and swept home into the far corner.
Although chances were at a premium for much of the game, West Ham went close to another twice in the second half.
A wonderful ball over the top from Aguerd found Emerson's run towards the back post. However, he could only ping the ball wide with his outstretched foot. Then, in the fourth of six added minutes, Pablo Fornals scooped a fine ball into the middle, but Bowen's header went straight at Johnstone.
West Ham manager David Moyes to Sky Sports:
"I don't know if we had it [the lead] completely locked down. We came out after half-time and we wanted to start better. I don't think we played particularly well in the first half, but we got a goal in front.
"Quite often in the Premier League, there are tight 1-0 games and when it is, you have to make sure you don't concede and hang in and be resilient and tough.
"But we gave away a really cheap goal which gave Crystal Palace a leg up.
"There might have been a bit of carry over from the game in midweek. We didn't play quick enough, we need a big atmosphere here on a Sunday and it's not always easy to get it with these kick-off times, to help the players as well.
"But overall, we just didn't play well enough. We gave away one or two half chances, but nothing too bad. But I just needed us to play with a bit more oomph, a bit more forward play and get the ball in and around them a bit more. We did that as the game wore on and created more chances in the end.
"We're striving to find ways to win. Recently, we've won games late on. Today, we came close but not quite enough.
"Today, it's disappointing that we didn't get a result because our form here has been good."
Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson to Sky Sports:
"The game was pretty even. We had to survive in the last five minutes and then extra time where they were getting the ball into the box a lot and that's always a worry and anxious moment.
"But I have to accept those anxious moments are normal for us because the last two games have been anything other than what we've wanted and we've lost those games from being in a good position.
"That probably explains a little bit why it was important for us not to cave in that last 10 minutes and to make sure we dealt with those balls. Fortunately, we did… we showed at times that we have quality in the team.
"It takes me back to my time at Inter. We were winning matches at the San Siro and really winning them quite deservedly. Then all of a sudden, a 2-0 lead would become 2-1 with a late goal and then in the last 10 minutes, we lost all of the football we played up there to get us in the ascendancy.
"I think that was slightly the case today and it would have been harsh had we not got something. A point is something we really did deserve with the performance.
"The players know now what they can and should be doing. Hopefully, what this result will do is let them forget that we had a bad result against Everton that hurt us deeply, and the same with Luton.
"In fact, the final 10 minutes of the game today was similar to what we did to Luton. We bombarded their box with crosses, but they were good enough to deal with it just as we were today."
West Ham travel to Tottenham on Thursday for a London derby, kick-off 8.15pm. It's then a trip to Fulham on Sunday, kick-off 2pm.
Crystal Palace have back-to-back home matches to look forward to, first against Bournemouth on Wednesday, kick-off 7.30pm, before hosting Liverpool on Saturday, kick-off 12.30pm.
