Edouard Rescues 1-1 Draw For Palace at West Ham
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Odsonne Edouard’s 53rd minute strike rescued Crystal Palace a 1-1 draw away at West Ham.
Mohammed Kudus put West Ham ahead in the 13th minute after he swept in from Vladimir Coufal’s pullback pass.
Odsonne Edouard pulled Palace level with a 53rd minute strike after he intercepted Konstantinos Mavropanos, which settled the contest as both teams held on for a point apiece.
West Ham now stay ninth in the table whilst Roy Hodgson’s Eagles remain 12th and nine points clear of the relegation zone.
Having enjoyed five of their last six visits to West Ham, Palace began this game on the front foot but struggled to create many chances until the 11th minute when Edouard flicked wide from Chris Richards’ knockdown header.
Palace were punished two minutes later for their sloppy end product as Coufal got on the end of James Ward-Prowse’s diagonal pass, from which he cut back for Kudus to rifle straight into the near-bottom right corner.
Jordan Ayew looked Palace’s best hope of equaliser throughout the rest of an end-to-end first half with little quality, but he saw his shot blocked in the 19th minute after an one-two passing move with Will Hughes then he curled wide nine minutes later.
West Ham meanwhile weathered Palace’s intensity with a disciplined defensive effort but could of got a second goal in the 22nd minute, as Nayef Aguerd played a long ball for Jarrod Bowen who latched onto the ball but Sam Johnstone saved his shot.
Kudus meanwhile nearly added a second goal to his name in this match but put a 40th minute volley shot wide on the rebound, after he had intercepted a half-clearance from Palace of a corner-kick but the Hammers protected their lead until half-time.
If that slender lead wasn’t enough, David Moyes’ men almost snatched a second goal barely 55 seconds upon the restart as Kudus curled into the far-left corner, yet his second goal was disallowed after Soucek was in an offside position.
That mistake from Soucek was almost punished five minutes later after Paqueta elbowed Olise, but Palace’s free-kick was nodded over by Edouard.
Edouard however rebounded from that wasted chance to level the match just two minutes later as he intercepted Mavropanos and rifled into the bottom right corner.
Olise then almost added a second goal for Palace in the 55th minute but Alphonse Areola saved his shot.
West Ham soon regrouped and almost restored their lead in the 64th minute as Paqueta whipped a direct cross into the box, but Emerson only managed to flick his touch wide.
Neither manager opted to make any changes in a tightly-fought contest until Palace boss, Hodgson substituted Hughes for Jairo Riedewald in the 82nd minute, followed by Edouard for Jean-Philippe Mateta five minutes later.
Both teams though struggled to break each other down but Coufal almost won the game in the 89th minute as he pounced upon Kudus’ cross with a long-range strike, only for his shot to be blocked and cleared.
Ultimately West Ham couldn’t repeat the late heroics of their last home game which saw them edge past Nottingham Forest, as Moyes’ Hammers were forced to settle for a draw after Palace dug deep defensively to pick up only their fourth point in their last six matches.
What’s Next?
West Ham will travel to Tottenham on Thursday 7 December in another London derby clash at 8:15pm GMT, live on Amazon Prime in the UK.
Crystal Palace meanwhile host Bournemouth a day earlier (6 December) at Selhurst Park in a 7:30pm GMT kick-off, live on Amazon Prime in the UK.
Teams
West Ham: Alphonse Areola, Vladimir Coufal, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Nayef Aguerd, Emerson Palmieri, Edson Alvarez (Fornals 89′), James Ward-Prowse, Mohammed Kudus, Tomas Soucek, Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen
Substitutes: Lukas Fabianski, Aaron Cresswell, Pablo Fornals, Maxwel Cornet, Danny Ings, Angelo Ogbonna, Said Benrahma, Thilo Kehrer, Divin Mubama
Crystal Palace: Sam Johnstone, Joel Ward, Joachim Andersen, Marc Guehi, Tyrick Mitchell, Chris Richards, Jefferson Lerma, Michael Olise, Will Hughes (Riedewald 82′), Jordan Ayew, Odsonne Edouard (Mateta 87′)
Substitutes: James Tomkins, Matheus Franca, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Nathaniel Clyne, Malcolm Ebiowei, Naouirou Ahamada, Remi Matthews, Joe Whitworth, Jairo Riedewald
Referee: Michael Oliver
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