Michael Olise’s late goal ended a run of seven games without a win on the road for Crystal Palace as they dispatched a tame West Ham side 2-1.
Despite being second-best throughout and posting just five shots on goal over the 90 minutes, West Ham grabbed the lead when Said Benrahma lashed one home from 22 yards. Palace stayed calm and kept playing silky possession-based football and got their rewards before the break when Wilfried Zaha fired them level after an error from Thilo Kehrer.
The game did fizzle out in a drab second half, but West Ham thought they had been given a lifeline to win it when Michail Antonio went down under a challenge from Marc Guehi inside the area.
However, referee Paul Tierney overturned his original call after VAR instructed him to rewatch the replay on the pitchside monitor.
That looked to be the final major incident of the game, but Palace broke on the counter after Antonio’s final ball inside the box was chipped straight to Vicente Guaita. He started the attack which ended with Olise curling a deflected effort over Lukasz Fabianski – his first goal in 19 games.
West Ham’s expected goals return of 0.19 is the lowest at home produced by any side this season, and their lowest since the start of last season. They were booed off at full-time by the home fans.
More to follow…
What’s next?
West Ham host Championship club Blackburn on Wednesday at 7.45pm in the Carabao Cup third round. They’re at the London Stadium again on Saturday November 12 for the visit of Leicester at 3pm in the Premier League.
Crystal Palace go to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday with a 7.45pm kick-off before travelling to Nottingham Forest on Saturday November 12 at 3pm.