Summary:
- Three changes for Palace as Eze, Doucouré and Schlupp all unavailable
- Edouard volleys wide from well-worked set-piece
- Kudus sidefoots West Ham into the lead moments later
- Bowen volleys at Johnstone under pressure from Guéhi
- Andersen’s deflected free-kick spins narrowly wide
- HT: West Ham 1-0 Palace
- Souček effort disallowed for offside
- Edouard sees close-range header deflect behind
- Frenchman intercepts to pull Palace level moments later
- Emerson volleys over for the hosts from clipped Paquetá pass
- Two teams struggle for control in slow final quarter
- Bowen heads at Johnstone deep into injury-time and Ward blocks from Fornals
- FT: West Ham 1-1 Palace
Palace were forced into three changes for their trip to London Stadium, with Ebere Eze and Cheick Doucouré having both been sidelined following injuries last weekend and Jeffrey Schlupp absent due to personal reasons.
Those restrictions saw Roy Hodgson line up with Chris Richards in defensive midfield, Will Hughes and Jordan Ayew also returning to the starting XI.
With West Ham involved in European competition in midweek and Palace coming off the back of a difficult run of form, it was a slow start from both sides in east London, with set-pieces proving most opportune for two teams armed with quality deliverers.
Indeed, the clearest chance of the opening stages fell to Palace’s top scorer Odsonne Edouard, who was unfortunately leaning back to wrap his foot around Joachim Andersen’s header back across goal – and could not direct his finish between the posts.
Palace were made to pay for that profligacy moments later when West Ham’s best player of the day, summer signing Mohammed Kudus, started and finished a sweeping move; James Ward-Prowse’s diagonal ball allowed Vladimir Coufal to cross low towards the penalty spot, and Kudus side-footed into the bottom corner from 12 yards out.
While the Eagles responded with a number of promising attacks, it was a final ball they generally lacked in the first-half, with Jarrod Bowen next to go close for West Ham as he attempted to lob Sam Johnstone from a long ball forwards, only to volley straight into his gloves.
The closest Palace came in the opening 45 minutes was again from a set-piece, albeit from an unlikely source: when Ayew won a free-kick 30 yards from goal, it was Andersen who stepped up to take it. His effort clipped the top of the ball and, with goalkeeper Alphonse Areola left flat-footed, spun agonisingly wide of the far post.
A disjointed first-half paved way for a more entertaining second in east London – but it almost started poorly for the Eagles when Tomás Souček swept in Kudus’ in-swinging cross, albeit from a blatantly offside position, as VAR then confirmed.
What followed was Palace’s best five-minute spell of the game, a series of attacks putting the West Ham goalmouth under real pressure.
First, a deep free-kick from Michael Olise was volleyed back across goal from Guéhi and Edouard stooped to seemingly inevitably head into the unguarded net – only for his effort to somehow clear the far post by virtue of a deflection off the covering Ward-Prowse.
He was not to be denied, and when only a half-chance arose moments later, the forward took it brilliantly, intercepting Konstantinos Mavropanos’ loose pass 30 yards from goal.
Driving into the box, he switched back onto his left foot before squeezing a rolling finish between Edson Alvarez, Alphonse Areola and the bottom-right corner, the Frenchman’s seventh goal in 13 games this season.
While Palace looked threatening on the break, West Ham began to control possession more as the half wore on; left-back Emerson ought to have scored from Lucas Paquetá’s impressive clipped pass, but blazed over with the goal at his mercy.
There was little to choose between the two teams as the match entered its final quarter, both teams struggling to create against their opponents’ well-drilled defences.
The best opportunities perhaps went to the hosts as the game entered six minutes of injury-time, but key interventions from Richards to block from Coufal; Johnstone to save Bowen’s close-range header; and Ward to deny Pablo Fornals with the last kick of the game; all amounted to secure the Eagles a valuable point on the road.
West Ham: Areola (GK), Coufal, Mavropanos, Aguerd, Emerson, Ward-Prowse, Álvarez (Fornals, 88), Souček, Paquetá, Kudus, Bowen
Subs: Fabianski (GK), Cresswell, Ogbonna, Kehrer, Cornet, Benrahma, Ings, Mubama
Palace: Johnstone (GK), Ward, Andersen, Guéhi, Richards, Mitchell, Lerma, Hughes (Riedewald, 83), Olise, Edouard (Mateta, 87), Ayew
Subs: Matthews (GK), Whitworth (GK), Tomkins, Clyne, França, Ebiowei, Ahamada