In a result that really helps neither team West Ham and Crystal Palace have played out a 2-2 draw after what ended in a tense affair at Boleyn Ground.
The Eagles opened the scoring when Bakary Sako played a free-kick in the box that was poorly dealt with by West Ham keeper Adrian and Damien Delaney was there to put the ensuing header home.
The lead was short lived with West Ham equalising three minutes later. A dangerous cross from Michail Antonio was poorly dealt with this time by the Crystal Palace defence which allowed Manuel Lanzini a route to goal.
The Hammers took the lead after a free-kick was given away by Joel Ward, which Dimitri Payet curled into the top left-hand corner leaving Wayne Hennessey stranded to give West Ham a half-time lead.
After some poor passing from the Hammers, Palace finally capitalised level the score. After coming off the bench Dwight Gayle was able to pounce on yet another mistake at the back, after a seemingly speculative cross from Pape Souare was not dealt with by Angelo Ogbonna, with the ball rebounding off Winston Reid and Gayle was there to stroke home from close range.
Sloppy play in the second half cost West Ham
After going into the second half in the lead the Hammers struggled to string a series of passes together, and that was what ultimately cost West Ham. Adrian put his defenders under unnecessary pressure after leaving back passes too short and inviting Palace onto the ball.
The sending off of Cheikkou Kouyate was another example of West Ham’s sloppy play. The tackle itself came after Kouyate played a poor back pass, which would have resulted in a goal for Palace if not for a goal-line clearance from Aaron Cresswell. It was that frustration from the defensive midfielder that then saw him lunge into a tackle on Gayle. It could be argued that he was going for the ball, but whenever you go into a tackle with studs showing you are asking for trouble.
That decision gave Palace renewed impetus to find an equaliser and hurt the Hammers’ Champions League qualification dream.
Palace still without a win this year
The Eagles currently hold a record that is worst of the top four divisions in English football, after yet another game without a win in this calendar year in the Premier League. Alan Pardew’s men have just three points out of a possible 36 points since the start of the year. In the first half it seemed as if Palace would be happy to take the draw, starting with 10 players behind the ball.
The counter-attacking style is how they were able to have success early in the season, however it took them a until halfway through the second half to engineer any fluidity in their play. With a man advantage for 27 minutes, plus stoppage time Palace could feel aggrieved not to have claimed a priceless win. However, Pardew will be content with a credible point that he can build upon and potentially break this worrying winless run.
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