Jean-Philippe Mateta scored twice as Crystal Palace further dented West Ham United's European hopes with an emphatic 5-2 win at Selhurst Park on Sunday.
The Frenchman rounded off a brilliant performance by scoring in both halves to earn Oliver Glasner his first pair of back-to-back Premier League wins as West Ham collapsed.
Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze and an own goal from Emerson had already put the Eagles – who are now surely safe from relegation – in a commanding position after 20 minutes.
Michail Antonio's close-range finish and Dean Henderson's bizarre own goal spared West Ham from a more humiliating margin of defeat, but that will be scant consolation for David Moyes, whose team stay eighth, two points adrift of the top seven.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 |
Spurs
TOT
|
38 | +13 | 66 |
| 6 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
38 | +14 | 63 |
| 7 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
38 | +23 | 60 |
| 8 |
Man Utd
MUN
|
38 | -1 | 60 |
| 9 |
West Ham
WHU
|
38 | -14 | 52 |
How the match unfolded
Palace flew out of the blocks, Olise reaching Joachim Andersen’s cross before a sluggish Lukasz Fabianski to nod in the opener after just seven minutes.
West Ham were then further punished when Kurt Zouma’s loose pass was cut out in midfield. Fabianski kept out Mateta’s low shot but was helpless on the rebound as Eze netted with an acrobatic scissor-kick.
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West Ham were then further punished when Zouma’s loose pass was cut out in midfield. Fabianski kept out Mateta’s low shot but was helpless on the rebound as Eze netted with an acrobatic scissor-kick.
The Hammers were guilty of more slack defending 20 minutes in when Will Hughes’ hooked cross was inadvertently prodded home by Emerson.
And things got worse just after the half-hour mark as Olise unlocked the Hammers’ defence to tee up Mateta for Palace’s fourth.
Antonio cut the deficit at the end of the first half, stretching to volley in from the edge of the six-yard box, with the goal confirmed by VAR following a review for offside.
However, Palace stretched their lead again after 64 minutes, Eze squeezing a pass through to Mateta, who found the bottom-right corner for his ninth goal of the season.
Tyrick Mitchell could not take advantage of another mistake at the back as he volleyed a first-time shot over the bar, and just minutes later at the other end, his back pass was knocked over the line by Henderson for a bizarre own goal to round off the scoring.
Eze on song
Eze has played a starring role for Palace lately, and he was at the centre of everything that the Eagles did well in a brilliant victory that moves them further from the relegation zone as they move to 36 points in 14th.
The winger scored a superb goal to double Palace's lead inside 16 minutes, his seventh in his last 10 matches, and he had chances to add to that in the first half, dragging two shots wide and skimming another over the crossbar.
He is just one goal behind the Eagles' leading scorer for the season, with Mateta's two goals in this game taking his tally to nine.
Since the start of last season, Eze has more goals and assists combined than any other Palace player (18 goals, seven assists).
Moyes feeling the pressure
In what was Moyes' 693rd game as a manager in the Premier League, this was the earliest that one of his teams had ever found themselves 4-0 down (31st minute), leaving the Hammers to rue another missed chance to move sixth in the table.
Meanwhile, Olise's opener marked the ninth time that West Ham have conceded a goal in the opening 15 minutes of the first half in a Premier League game this season, with only bottom side Sheffield United doing so more often (11 times).
It is also the 11th time in 2024 that the Hammers have conceded first in the league, while they have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 14 games in the competition.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 |
Fulham
FUL
|
38 | -6 | 47 |
| 14 |
Wolves
WOL
|
38 | -15 | 46 |
| 15 |
Everton
EVE
|
38 | -11 | 40 |
Club reports
Crystal Palace report | West Ham report
Next Premier League fixtures
Key facts
Crystal Palace’s 5-2 over West Ham was their joint-biggest win in a top-flight London derby (sixth by three goals), and the first time they’ve ever scored five goals against fellow London opposition at this level.
Both of Crystal Palace’s victories by three goals in the Premier League this season have come under Oliver Glasner (3-0 v Burnley and 5-2 v West Ham). Prior to his arrival, the Eagles had only won one of their previous 71 games in the competition by three or more goals (5-1 v Leeds in April 2023).
West Ham have only won four of their 21 games across all competitions in 2024 (D8 L9) – indeed, they have the fifth-lowest win percentage of any Premier League team this year (19 per cent), behind only Burnley (13.3 per cent), Sheffield United (13.3 per cent), Nottingham Forest (15.8 per cent) and Everton (18.8 per cent).
In what was his 693rd game as a manager in the Premier League, this was the earliest a David Moyes side had ever been 4-0 down in a game in the competition (31st minute – Crystal Palace 4-0 West Ham).
