Match ends, Crystal Palace 2, West Ham United 1.
Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace2West HamWest Ham United1
Jordan Ayew's sensational 90th-minute winner will "live long in the memory", says manager Roy Hodgson after his Crystal Palace side came from behind to beat West Ham at Selhurst Park.
Ayew danced through the Hammers defence on the edge of the box and then brilliantly beat goalkeeper Roberto with a calm chip to claim the three points.
He also set-up Cheikhou Kouyate with a knock-down for Palace's equaliser, as the midfielder swept home a volley from seven yards to cancel out Robert Snodgrass' opener.
"It was a fantastic effort," Hodgson said.
"I thought Jordan did ever so well to set up the first goal.
"The second was one of those wonderful individual efforts that will live long in the memory and get lots of airings on TV.
"He deserves that - it's a fine reward for his performance today and this season so far."
The win takes Palace up to eighth in the Premier League table but West Ham fall to 17th, just a point above the relegation zone as pressure increases again on manager Manuel Pellegrini.
- Crystal Palace v West Ham United as it happened
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Ayew magic grabs deserved three points for Palace
Ghanaian Ayew unsurprisingly said afterwards his goal was one of the best he has scored in his career.
He drove in from the right wing, beat Declan Rice with a drag-back and dribbled around two more defenders before showing brilliant composure to send Selhurst Park delirious.
A dreary first half did not hint at what was to come later, but the winner was deserved reward for Palace's second-half performance.
Ayew and Luka Milivojevic had both gone close before Snodgrass' curled the opener inside the far post against the run of play.
That said, the Scotland international could have scored again moments before Ayew's goal if not for an excellent block from Jairo Riedewald.
Palace have rarely grabbed the headlines this season but they now go into the second half of the season with 26 points - just three off the top six - and have a chance to secure just a second top-10 Premier League finish.
Pressure back on Pellegrini's stuttering Hammers
When Snodgrass put West Ham in front, the Hammers were en route to a second successive Premier League win which would have moved them well clear of the drop zone.
Instead, not helped by wins elsewhere for Southampton and Aston Villa, they are looking worryingly over their shoulders once again.
They have had 12 days without a match since their win at Southampton but have followed those three points with defeat - as they did when they beat Chelsea in November.
Pellegrini was reportedly facing the sack had his side lost at Southampton and will have to face more questions about his position after this defeat.
They only had two shots on target in the 90 minutes and will wonder how Ayew was able to beat so many defenders for the winner.
The Hammers have a difficult game against Leicester at London Stadium on Saturday before they host Bournemouth on New Year's Day.
"We need to recover as soon as we can," said Pellegrini, whose side have only won twice at home this season.
"We need to play our home game where we are not having good results - we have two games in a row there and I hope we start winning."
Injuries mount for Palace
The only negatives for Palace were further additions to their growing injury list.
The Eagles were already without five first-team players - Scott Dann, Gary Cahill, Joel Ward, Andros Townsend and Jeffrey Schlupp - before striker Christian Benteke was ruled out of this game with a muscle injury that Hodgson said would sideline the Belgian a "few weeks".
Full-back Patrick van Aanholt was then substituted in the second half after pulling up with what looked to be a hamstring injury.
Hodgson said he will try to sign "a few" players in January to bolster their squad.
Man of the match - Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace)
Ayew the late goal specialist - the best stats
- Crystal Palace recorded a Premier League double over West Ham for just the second time, having previously done so in the 2013-14 season under Tony Pulis.
- The team scoring first has not won any of the past six Premier League meetings between Crystal Palace and West Ham (D3 L3), with the Eagles coming from behind to win 2-1 in both meetings this season.
- Crystal Palace are unbeaten in their past three London derbies at Selhurst Park in the Premier League (W2 D1) - their longest such run since between March 1993 and September 1994 (also three games).
- No fewer 76% of Crystal Palace's goals in the Premier League this season have been scored in the second half of games (13 out of 17), including eight of their nine at Selhurst Park.
- Ayew has scored 21 goals in the Premier League, with 20 of those being netted in the second half (95%) - the highest such ratio of any player with 20 or more goals in the competition's history.
- Snodgrass has scored four league goals against Crystal Palace - only against Bristol City (five) has he netted more in English league competition.
- Kouyate became the fourth player to score for both the Eagles and West Ham in the Premier League, after Iain Dowie, Michael Hughes and James Tomkins.
- Wilfried Zaha completed 12 dribbles for Crystal Palace in this game; the most by a player in a Premier League outing since Chelsea's Eden Hazard in February (13 versus Huddersfield).
What's next?
Both sides are back in action in two days time. Crystal Palace travel to Southampton on 28 December (15:00 GMT kick-off) while West Ham host Leicester later the same day (17:30).
Line-ups
Crystal Palace
Formation 4-5-1
- 31Guaita
- 34Kelly
- 5Tomkins
- 12Sakho
- 3van AanholtSubstituted forRiedewaldat 65'minutes
- 7MeyerSubstituted forWickhamat 75'minutes
- 8KouyatéSubstituted forMcCarthyat 88'minutes
- 4Milivojevic
- 18McArthur
- 11Zaha
- 9J Ayew
Substitutes
- 13Hennessey
- 21Wickham
- 22McCarthy
- 23Camarasa
- 35Woods
- 40Pierrick
- 44Riedewald
West Ham
Formation 4-4-2
- 13Jiménez
- 5ZabaletaBooked at 89mins
- 4Balbuena
- 21Ogbonna
- 3CresswellBooked at 90mins
- 11SnodgrassSubstituted forAjetiat 90+1'minutes
- 16Noble
- 41Rice
- 18FornalsSubstituted forLanziniat 58'minutes
- 30Antonio
- 22HallerSubstituted forFelipe Andersonat 75'minutes
Substitutes
- 8Felipe Anderson
- 10Lanzini
- 15C Sánchez
- 23Diop
- 26Masuaku
- 27Ajeti
- 49Anang
- Referee:
- Andre Marriner
- Attendance:
- 25,462
Match Stats
Home TeamCrystal PalaceAway TeamWest Ham
- Possession
- Home58%
- Away42%
- Shots
- Home13
- Away10
- Shots on Target
- Home4
- Away2
- Corners
- Home7
- Away6
- Fouls
- Home5
- Away10
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Crystal Palace 2, West Ham United 1.
Booking
Aaron Cresswell (West Ham United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
James McCarthy (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Post update
Foul by Aaron Cresswell (West Ham United).
Post update
Foul by James McCarthy (Crystal Palace).
Post update
Manuel Lanzini (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution
Substitution, West Ham United. Albian Ajeti replaces Robert Snodgrass.
Goal!
Goal! Crystal Palace 2, West Ham United 1. Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Connor Wickham.
Booking
Pablo Zabaleta (West Ham United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Pablo Zabaleta (West Ham United).
Substitution
Substitution, Crystal Palace. James McCarthy replaces Cheikhou Kouyaté.
Post update
Foul by Connor Wickham (Crystal Palace).
Post update
Angelo Ogbonna (West Ham United) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Robert Snodgrass (West Ham United) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Aaron Cresswell.
Post update
Attempt missed. Cheikhou Kouyaté (Crystal Palace) header from the centre of the box misses to the left.
Post update
Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Post update
Foul by Pablo Zabaleta (West Ham United).
Post update
Corner, Crystal Palace. Conceded by Pablo Zabaleta.
Comments
Join the conversation
And what a goal from Ayew.
It will aid the recovery of my dear friend David, a lifelong Palace supporter who is currently unwell in hospital.
Also a mention to my daughter Beulah, another Palace nutter.
Hammers again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory!
Think it may get even worse before it gets better, oh well it's not the end of the world is it.
Remember, never let results ruin your love for the game.
Ayews goal was pure class.
COYI.
Crystal Palace 2 (van Aanholt 63' pen), (J Ayew 87')
Thur 26th Dec 2019 Crystal Palace 2 (Kouyaté 68' minutes), (J Ayew (90')
West Ham 1 (Snodgrass 57' )
Palace win both games coming from behind, with Ayew scoring the winner in both games. Amazing. Jingle bells, jingle all the way...
Bit more quality in the final 1/3 they could challenge for top 6 IMO.
From West Ham Fans.