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“Don’t play him”, “Disgrace”: Some West Ham fans seem to have had enough of wantaway star as they draw 1-1 against Crystal Palace + Match report

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Crystal Palace 1-1 West Ham: Late Zaha goal cancels out Noble’s penalty

West Ham and Crystal Palace shared a point at Selhurst Park on the back of a well fought 1-1 draw. The Hammers haven’t been in very good form over the last few weeks and as this game took off, it didn’t necessarily look like today was the day for it to change.

Playing away at Selhurst Park against a strong looking Crystal Palace side, West Ham obviously began with less of the ball but as the game wore on, it slowly developed into a pretty even affair.

Within a few minutes, Palace began to assert their dominance as they started to create half-chances while moving the ball exceptionally well. It looked like Pellegrini would have to succumb to yet another embarrassment away from home in the Premier League.

With Arnautovic still unavailable, Javier Hernandez and Michael Antonio started in the two central-striking roles. Eventually playing with a 4-4-2 formation, Declan Rice and Mark Noble weren’t able to take control of the ball and while the former’s defensive work was good, there was a lot to be done by the Hammers.

With the Eagles clearly in the ascendancy, the Hammers finally got their stroke of luck in the 27th-minute when a long ball from the midfield expertly picked out the inrushing Michael Antonio clear on goal.

The bounce of the ball proved to be a bit tricky for Antonio but he managed to get his head to the ball ahead of the charging Guaita. Unfortunately for the keeper, he completely took the forward out and the referee didn’t hesitate to point to the spot.

Mark Noble stepped up and took the responsibility for the Hammers and he sent the keeper the wrong way with his penalty to make it 1-0 to the away side. This didn’t cause a change in the trend of the game though as Palace’s pressure, although not very effective, was extremely relentless.

In the second half, things got feistier in the midfield with McArthur and Milivojevic beginning to see a lot more of the ball. And while they did come close on a few occasions, having recorded 13 shots, they weren’t able to break the Hammers’ defence down.

It was finally in the 76th minute that the breakthrough came for West Ham when Zaha found the ball on the left wing. He drove into the box but was immediately covered by two defenders. He played a smart one-two with McArthur before launching a powerful shot into the roof of the net to make it 1-1 on the night.

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In the final knockings of the game, the Eagles began to push for the winner but as it turned out, there wasn’t enough time left as Palace held Pellegrini’s 10th-placed West Ham.

Here are some of the rather mixed thoughts left by West Ham fans on Twitter: