Manuel Lanzini’s lovely goal gave West Ham a vital and deserved victory at Selhurst Park. despite the dismissal of Aaron Cresswell
7.23pm BST
That feels like a huge moment in West Ham’s season. In fact, it feels like the start of their season. They showed their class in the first half, when Lanzini scored a lovely goal, and their resilience and spirit in the second when Palace bombed them and Aaron Cresswell was sent off. The three centre-halves all played well but Winston Reid was magnificent. Thanks for your company, night.
Related: Manuel Lanzini sparks West Ham into life with win over Crystal Palace
7.21pm BST
West Ham end their miserable run with a fine victory.
7.21pm BST
90+3 min Great save from Adrian! Townsend hit a wicked inswinging cross from the right that was headed towards goal from close range by the stretching Wickham at the far post. Adrian reacted superbly to tip it over the bar.
7.18pm BST
90+1 min There will be four added minutes.
7.18pm BST
90 min A superb deep cross from Cabaye is headed by Benteke onto Nortdveit and behind for a corner. Adrian claims the corner superbly under pressure. I’d like to see that again but the first header looked like a really good chance for Benteke.
7.15pm BST
88 min Another West Ham change: Havard Nordtveit replaces the goalscorer Lanzini.
7.15pm BST
87 min Calleri draws a witless foul from Delaney to buy West Ham a bit of time.
7.13pm BST
86 min Another West Ham substitution: the willing Zaza is replaced by Jonathan Calleri.
7.12pm BST
85 min Obiang has had an outstanding game in midfield for West Ham. Meanwhile, Benteke’s snap-volley from 18 yards bobbles well wide.
7.11pm BST
83 min West Ham have gone to a 4-4-1/8-0-1 formation now. Cresswell’s two yellow cards look more scandalous with each viewing. We’ll hear plenty about them if West Ham don’t win.
7.08pm BST
81 min A brilliant inswinging corner from Puncheon is headed over by Benteke, six yards from goal. He should have scored. Adrian came from the ball and was nowhere near it, so there was a lot of the goal to aim at.
7.05pm BST
78 min Dimitri Payet, who was majestic in patches, is replaced by Edimilson Fernandes.
7.05pm BST
77 min The more I see that second Cresswell incident, the less sure I am that it merited a yellow card. And as for the first one.
7.04pm BST
76 min The resulting free-kick is taken by Cabaye, and dips over a number of heads before hitting the unsighted Tomkins and dribbling towards goal. Adrian moves smartly across his line to save.
7.03pm BST
That is incredible. Cresswell gets his second yellow card in a minute for fouling Zaha on the right wing. Hmm. That one is probably a yellow card but the first looked harsh.
7.02pm BST
74 min Payet’s corner flashes across the face of his goal and is headed off the post by Antonio! Cresswell is then booked for diving in the area after a challenge from Cabaye. There might have been contact you know.
7.00pm BST
73 min Zaza runs 30 yards to win the ball off Puncheon, starting a move that eventually leads to a West Ham corner. Zaza certainly has galootish qualities but his work-rate is so impressive.
6.59pm BST
71 min Puncheon’s deep cross is headed back across goal by Benteke, and Reid chests it back to Adrian from six yards. That was superb defending, if not good for the blood pressure of the average West Ham fan.
6.57pm BST
70 min Wickham replaces McArthur, so Palace will switch to a 4-4-2 formation now.
6.57pm BST
68 min West Ham are hanging on a little now, and Palace are preparing to bring on Connor Wickham.
6.52pm BST
64 min This is Palace’s best spell of the match, and Opta stats show that 94.21 per cent of West Ham fans just know their team will lose 2-1. Zaha appeals for a penalty after falling over in the box. No dice, soldier.
6.49pm BST
62 min Ogbonna is booked for fouling Zaha on the right wing. “I hate to say it but that’s a brilliant foul,” says Owen Hargreaves on BT, and he’s right because Zaha was breaking into a very dangerous area.
6.46pm BST
59 min Zaza has put in an heroic shift up front. If he can get some confidence back he will become a West Ham cult hero.
6.44pm BST
58 min Townsend curls straight at Adrian from 25 yards.
6.44pm BST
55 min Another chance for Payet! Lanzini surged through the Palace defence and, though he overran the ball slightly, he was able to slide and steer the ball back to Payet as Mandanda came to meet him on the edge of the six-yard box. Payet took his time before hitting a shot that Mandanda did well to beat away.
6.42pm BST
54 min Cabaye steals possession inside West Ham’s half before shooting well wide from 20 yards. He has given Palace’s midfield a bit more urgency.
6.40pm BST
52 min Antonio goes on a brilliant run infield before finding Zaza in the box. He gets it back on to his left foot but takes too long and eventually his shot is blocked.
6.39pm BST
51 min That was a chance for West Ham. Lanzini clipped a lovely first-time pass over the defence to put Payet clear on the right of the box, but Payet’s first touch was fractionally heavy and Mandanda came from his line to claim the ball.
6.37pm BST
49 min It’s been an excellent start to the second half by West Ham, who are pressing Palace high up the pitch at the moment.
6.35pm BST
49 min “What do you make of Bilic?” says Matt Collins. “Is he as great as his personality suggests, or will he join Pardew, Zola and others as a manager capable of one good season with West Ham but no more?” I think he’s better than that. In a sane world he would be West Ham manager for the next 10-15 years.
6.35pm BST
48 min Benteke is booked for inflicting pain on Winston Reid.
6.33pm BST
47 min “Accidentally wandered into a pub full of south London winners here in NYC watching the game and having a massive row about who is/was better - Messi or Maradona,” says Rachel Clifton. “Only momentarily paused by that bloody terrible penalty.”
She didn’t say ‘winners’. Also, anyone who thinks Messi is better than Maradona should be banned from flapping their gums for a week.
6.32pm BST
46 min Peep peep! West Ham begin the second half, kicking from left to right.
6.32pm BST
Palace have made a double half-time substitution: Yohan Cabaye for Joe Ledley, and Zeki Fryers for Martin Kelly.
6.28pm BST
Half-time chit-chat
“Evening Rob,” says Matt Loten. “As we approach half-time in what has been a thoroughly entertaining day of football, I feel as though today’s fare has perfectly encapsulated the promise that this season held before it kicked off. Just the odd point separating the teams as the top; Guardiola and Koeman engaged in the sort of continental tactical battle we’ve sorely lacked for years; Arsene Wenger suddenly deciding the league is competitive enough to bother with; and goals flying in left, right and centre. Could this be the most exciting iteration of the Greatest League in the World ™ since football began in 1992?”
6.19pm BST
Benteke heads against the outside of the post with the last touch of the half! Palace came to life in the last couple of minutes and would be level but for a comedy missed penalty from Benteke. Adrian had already dived to his right, so Benteke only had to roll the ball into the other side of the net. Instead he put it wide.
See you in 10 minutes for the second half.
6.16pm BST
Oh my goodness. Benteke strolled towards the ball, sat Adrian down, and then sidefooted wide of the post!
6.15pm BST
Ogbonna is penalised for a stupid tackle on Benteke.
6.15pm BST
44 min Lanzini plays a neat give-and-go with Zaza and wallops a low shot from 25 yards that is well held by Mandanda. Zaza has his limitations, particularly from 12 yards, but he is admirably game.
6.13pm BST
43 min Ward bursts down the right to win a corner for Palace. Puncheon’s inswinger is headed clear by Kouyate.
6.11pm BST
40 min “In Zurich train station (bahnoff!) using the free wi-fi to get the football scores,” writes PB. “I’m specifically in the customer service lounge because it’s warmer than being on the main concourse. Everyone might well be nattering about West Ham but I don’t speak German so it’s difficult to tell.” Is anyone jogging on the spot? If so it’s almost certainly a tribute to Zaza in the form of physical banter.
6.11pm BST
39 min Palace have had more of the ball but only the most one-eyed eejit would deny that West Ham have been the better side. Palace
must
need to find a way to get Benteke into the game.
6.08pm BST
37 min A superb outswinging corner from Payet is headed down into the ground by a combination of Zaza and Ward, from where it bounces onto the roof of the net for another corner. That one is headed away.
6.05pm BST
36 min “I’m out here!” writes Chris Lewis. “In Tehran actually. Currently two weeks into a tour of Iran, lovely country and I’ve never been anywhere where the people are so friendly. When I mention I’m from England all they want to talk about is football. I say I’m a West Ham fan and Paolo Di Canio’s name invariably comes up but Payet’s name soon follows. Payet’s genius has reached Iran.” Any mention of George Parris?
6.04pm BST
33 min Payet’s booming inswinging free-kick from the left is headed a few yards wide by Zaza, jockeying for position near the penalty spot.
6.00pm BST
30 min Thus far West Ham, and Reid in particular, have handled Benteke excellently.
5.59pm BST
28 min Lovely play from Townsend, who beats Cresswell with a stepover and floats an inviting ball beyond the far post. Zaha was coming in on it but Noble got there first to head behind for a corner.
5.57pm BST
27 min Townsend on the right swings a long, inswinging cross towards the far post, where Kouyate does superbly to head clear despite having Benteke’s elbow in the side of his face.
5.56pm BST
26 min Anyone out there?
5.55pm BST
25 min Palace win their first corner, which will be taken by Puncheon on the right. Reid heads clear.
5.54pm BST
21 min It’s still hosing down at Selhurst Park, and so far the pitch has held up extremely well.
5.50pm BST
Cresswell and Payet combined on the left, with Payet doodling for a bit before slipping it down the line. Cresswell sidefooted a fierce low cross towards the near post, where Lanzini, arriving late into the box, opened his body to steer the ball into the far corner. It was a lovely finish and a lovely cross from Cresswell, who has had a storming start to this game.
5.49pm BST
West Ham take a deserved lead with a terrific goal.
5.46pm BST
17 min Payet is so good to watch. There hasn’t been a player like him in the Premier League since Matt Le Tissier.
5.45pm BST
14 min Payet’s right-wing corner slithers through a couple of defenders at the near post, and Antonio is in the process of attempting to hook it towards goal when Ledley puts it behind for another corner. That was a crucial interception. Payet’s outswinger is met by the head of Kouyate, who heads it whence it came and just wide of the post. West Ham have been terrific thus far.
5.42pm BST
11 min It really is John Cusack weather at Selhurst Park. In an ideal world, all football would be played in pouring rain.
5.41pm BST
9 min Zaha misses an excellent chance for Palace. Townsend’s long-range shot was blocked by Reid, with the ball rebounding to Puncheon near the halfway line. He slipped a fine through pass to Zaha, in all sorts of space just inside the box. Zaha got the ball out of his feet efficiently enough but then dragged a low shot a few yards wide of the far post from 15 yards.
5.39pm BST
8 min West Ham will be pleased with this start. Palace haven’t been able to build anything resembling pressure, whereas West Ham look dangerous. An elaborate drag-flick from Payet finds Lanzini, who tries to slide it through to Zaza. The big man is on his heels and the moment passes.
5.37pm BST
6 min After another good run from Cresswell, Zaza’s low shot from 18 yards is comfortably held by the tumbling Mandanda.
5.35pm BST
4 min Cresswell marauds into space down the left onto Obiang’s insouciant pass, leaving Zaha in his slipstream before rifling a rising shot into the side netting at the near post. Mandanda had it covered but that was a decent effort and a fine run.
5.34pm BST
3 min The keeper Mandanda has just dribbled past Zaza. That’s the highlight so far.
5.32pm BST
2 min The West Ham team looks so much stronger with Cresswell and Lanzini in the starting XI. If they restore some order to their season in the next month, they could still easily finish in the top seven. But if they don’t, and somebody does something silly involving Slaven Bilic and a P45, they could end up reliving the nightmare of 2002-03.
5.30pm BST
1 min Martin Atkinson puts his whistle to his lips, and Crystal Palace kick off from left to right. They are in red and blue; West Ham are in white.
5.27pm BST
“Bilic played this system in the win over Spurs in March,” writes our very own Jacob Steinberg. “Didn’t work against Arsenal in April, though.”
5.25pm BST
Any mention of the history of this fixture usually means one thing: everybody starts googling pictures of Neil Shipperley.
5.22pm BST
It’s pelting down at Selhurst Park. This match was always likely to be on the primal side, and the rain will help with that.
4.41pm BST
Crystal Palace (4-2-3-1) Mandanda; Ward, Tomkins, Delaney, Kelly; McArthur, Ledley; Zaha, Puncheon, Townsend; Benteke.
Substitutes: Hennessey, Fryers, Cabaye, Lee, Sako, Wickham, Campbell.
West Ham (3-4-2-1) Adrian; Reid, Kouyate, Ogbonna; Antonio, Obiang, Noble, Cresswell; Lanzini, Payet; Zaza.
Substitutes: Spiegel, Nordtveit, Feghouli, Collins, Fletcher, Carreri, Fernandes.
3.59pm BST
Hello. After all their problems at the London Stadium, West Ham might be quietly glad of an away game. But they won’t find much goodwill at Selhurst Park, where Crystal Palace would derive considerable pleasure from keeping their London rivals in the relegation places.
Palace are in terrific form, unbeaten in five after losing their first two league games, while West Ham have been fifty shades of shambles for most of the season. They will hope that Dimitri Payet’s amazing goal two weeks ago, which gave them a point against Middlesbrough, is a turning point in their season. If they keep losing, however, it won’t be long before somebody utters the phrase that has chilled West Ham fans since 2002-03: that they are too good to go down.
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