A London derby with the sides stood 12th and 16th respectively, they both made a couple of changes each with Mamadou Sakho returning to bolster the Palace back-line, while David Martin’s injury meant Roberto Jimenez returned in goal.
Martin and Lukasz Fabianski were rated 50/50 in the build-up to the game and understandably there was little subtlety to Palace’s tactics early on, peppering Roberto, and he survived the early exchanges with chances few and far between.
Palace had the first real opportunity when Ayew failed to convert Max Meyer’s cross, while at the other end, Michail Antonio stung the palms of Vicente Guaita. However, that was as good as it got and Andre Marriner saw fit to avoid adding any stoppage time as the sides went in scoreless.
Into the second half and Roberto was called into action soon after the interval, Aaron Cresswell’s poor backpass was picked up by Ayew and with the angle against him, the Ghanaian saw his effort saved.
Luka Milivojevic also went close but against the run of play, Robert Snodgrass broke the deadlock after 57 minutes.
Antonio was the instigator, driving forward and tempting Patrick van Aanholt out of the line before sliding in Snodgrass who curled home.
Palace had been the better team to that point and deservedly equalised soon after, former Hammer Cheikhou Kouyate smashing past Roberto from a clever Ayew nod back.
Both teams pushed for a decider, Connor Wickham spurning a one-on-one but it didn’t matter as Ayew proved himself the hero, slaloming through the West Ham defence and lifting past Roberto to grab the points.
The result moves Palace up to eighth in the table but by contrast, West Ham drop down to 17th and with results elsewhere going against them, back into the relegation battle.
Crystal Palace 2-1 West Ham - Match Highlights
A London derby with the sides stood 12th and 16th respectively, they both made a couple of changes each with Mamadou Sakho returning to bolster the Palace back-line, while David Martin’s injury meant Roberto Jimenez returned in goal.
Martin and Lukasz Fabianski were rated 50/50 in the build-up to the game and understandably there was little subtlety to Palace’s tactics early on, peppering Roberto, and he survived the early exchanges with chances few and far between.
Palace had the first real opportunity when Ayew failed to convert Max Meyer’s cross, while at the other end, Michail Antonio stung the palms of Vicente Guaita. However, that was as good as it got and Andre Marriner saw fit to avoid adding any stoppage time as the sides went in scoreless.
Into the second half and Roberto was called into action soon after the interval, Aaron Cresswell’s poor backpass was picked up by Ayew and with the angle against him, the Ghanaian saw his effort saved.
Luka Milivojevic also went close but against the run of play, Robert Snodgrass broke the deadlock after 57 minutes.
Antonio was the instigator, driving forward and tempting Patrick van Aanholt out of the line before sliding in Snodgrass who curled home.
Palace had been the better team to that point and deservedly equalised soon after, former Hammer Cheikhou Kouyate smashing past Roberto from a clever Ayew nod back.
Both teams pushed for a decider, Connor Wickham spurning a one-on-one but it didn’t matter as Ayew proved himself the hero, slaloming through the West Ham defence and lifting past Roberto to grab the points.
The result moves Palace up to eighth in the table but by contrast, West Ham drop down to 17th and with results elsewhere going against them, back into the relegation battle.