Crystal Palace 4-3 West Ham: Crystal Palace and West Ham United have kicked off the Premier League weekend with a sensational thriller. In the London derby, the counter remained at seven goals, so that the home team took the win.
Hodgson does it again and pushes Palace over Chelsea after a sensational derby
Crystal Palace fired Patrick Vieira some time ago, after which the old Roy Hodgson (75) took over as interim manager. And just then it went crescendo. The veteran took ten points in his first four games and prevented The Eagles from ending up in a blood-curdling battle for survival.
Something that the fellow townsman had already ended up in. West Ham could only just keep their heads above water at the time of Vieira’s sacking, but held on to manager David Moyes. And rightly so, because suddenly The Hammers put down a great series. In seven league games, only one loss was lost, while the semi-finals of the Conference League were reached. AZ is waiting there now.
Still, both teams entered the city derby with a sour aftertaste of the midweek round. Both Palace and West Ham lost suddenly, bringing the period full of happy faces to an end. And so the ruffs flew into each other’s hair at Selhurst Park on Saturday. After all, there was something to be done. Although that only happened after the kick-off was made fifteen minutes later. The gates did not open in various places in the stadium. For the supporters, the starting time was therefore postponed.
Selhurst Park witnessed spectacle
That was not for nothing, it turned out later. What followed was a sensational opening phase. Within ten minutes it was hit. A corner kick ended up at the feet of Tomas Soucek and he hit it flawlessly. A dream start for West Ham, but Palace reacted immediately. Within fifteen minutes the ball was also against the ropes on the other side. Jordan Ayew was reached through Michael Olise. The Ghanaian did not fail.
While Selhurst Park gasped, Palace happily carried on. Hodgson’s entrance had given the team confidence and it showed. Five minutes after the equalizer, the home team continued. Again Olise was the principal, but this time he served Wilfried Zaha. The star player did not fail. That did not satisfy the hunger, because before the half hour was over, Palace struck again. This time Jeffrey Schlupp was allowed to cheer. And that was not the end of it, because immediately afterwards the guests fought back via Michael Antonio (3-2).
The teams seemed to have run out for a while. After more than an hour of play, however, it burned loose again. Eberechi Ezi increased Palace’s margin from the penalty spot, but Hodgson again saw his defense fail to kill the game. Again West Ham responded immediately. Nayef Aguerd scored the 4-3 goal within seven minutes. However, that was it, as the Premier League’s Dick Advocaat triumphed again. Palace even crept past Chelsea to eleventh place in the ranking. Although the neutral spectator was the big winner.
