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5 hours ago
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The sound of boos ringing out at the London Stadium has not taken long to return. This was a miserable afternoon for Graham Potter, whose side finished with 10 men and failed to register a shot on target during this deserved defeat to Crystal Palace, and it will surely intensify West Ham’s efforts to sign a new forward this month.
Palace are unlikely to have an easier clean sheet. Dean Henderson had nothing to do in goal and Oliver Glasner’s side were able to assume a tight grip from start to finish. Jean-Philippe Mateta, with his 10th and 11th goals of the season, produced the finishes that saw Palace move above West Ham and stretch their unbeaten run on the road to seven games.
The sense that Potter is having to mend and make do while he waits for West Ham’s injury problems in attack to ease was heightened by the sight of the veteran defender, Aaron Cresswell, coming in for his first start in the league this season.
It was an enforced change after a fortunate 3-2 win over Fulham last Tuesday – Carlos Soler was only fit enough for a place on the bench after picking up a knock in training – and it meant handing the initiative to Palace. West Ham, who were cumbersome and predictable after deciding to match Glasner’s 3-4-2-1 system, were summed up in a creative sense by finishing the first half with an xG of 0.06.
Palace controlled the game. They pressed well, dominated possession and pushed West Ham back for long spells. The only problem was their lack of incision. Daichi Kamada twice shot over from the edge of the area and too many attacks broke down because of a poor final ball.
Not that West Ham looked secure at the back. Konstantinos Mavropanos, stationed at right centre-back, made the crowd nervous whenever the ball was at his feet and Palace had their first sight of goal when Maximilian Kilman played a slack pass out of defence in the 12th minute. Forced wide, though, Mateta was unable to beat Lukasz Fabianski from an unforgiving angle.
That was it as far as any goalmouth action was concerned before half-time. There was nothing from West Ham beyond an unconvincing volley from Aaron Wan-Bissaka during the early stages, a few eye-catching dribbles from Mohammed Kudus and the odd piece of insouciance from Lucas Paquetá.
It was not good enough. Paquetá and Tomas Soucek struggled to support Kudus, who kept finding himself outnumbered by yellow shirts after being pressed into action as the false nine. The need for reinforcements to arrive before the window shuts was glaring. Little changed from an attacking perspective for West Ham when Potter introduced Soler for Guido Rodríguez at half-time.
The score did, though, Palace soon ahead thanks to a crisp move that took them straight through the heart of West Ham. The towering Maxence Lacroix played the ball out of defence, Ismaïla Sarr’s flick found Eberechi Eze and another pass allowed Mateta to drive at a backtracking Kilman, whose failure to engage allowed the Frenchman to drill a low shot past Fabianski.
There was no response from West Ham. There was a triple change from Potter; Paquetá, Cresswell and Emerson making way for Danny Ings, Oliver Scarles and the teenage debutant Lewis Orford, but it made no difference. Palace continued to look likelier to score and should have gone 2-0 up when the substitute Eddie Nketiah went through on goal, only for Fabianski to save.
No matter. Palace, who have signed Romain Esse from Millwall, kept pressing and West Ham had a mountain to climb when Mavropanos, who was already on a booking, received a second yellow for catching Mateta with a high boot.
The only question left was whether Palace could score again. It was answered when Fabianski fouled Nketiah and Mateta scored from the spot. West Ham were well beaten.
