Points Shared In Selhurst Stalemate As Hammers Hold Eagles

This Monday night fixture proved to be a dour goalless draw in a game littered with mistakes from both sides which was very much dominated by two stubborn defences.

MATCH INFORMATION

PLAYER RATINGS

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 17 Nathaniel CLYNE, 24 Borna SOSA, 34 Chadi RIAD, 44 Walter BENITEZ, 59 Rio CARDINES

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 12 Jean-Clair TODIBO, 17 Adama TRAORE, 23 Alphonse AREOLA, 27 Soungoutou MAGASSA, 29 Aaron WAN-BISSAKA, 30 Ollie SCARLES, 32 Freddie POTTS

POST GAME QUOTES

OLIVER GLASNER

“Mixed feelings like always after a draw. Let’s talk about the positives – another clean sheet. What I liked to see is that at the end of the game we looked closer to winning it.

West Ham defended the box very well. We matched their motivation today. It’s all good. The biggest threat came from set-plays. We gifted them too many, especially in the first half. They have many tall players and Bowen delivers the ball well.

The performance was okay. The commitment was great.”

DEAN HENDERSON

“We’re disappointed. The lads gave everything they could. Obviously, we had a few tired legs out there, but we did manage to push on towards the end and try and get the winner, unfortunately we just couldn’t do that.

We take the clean sheet, we move on and get ready for some important games coming up. I’ll be honest. We wanted to win. We wanted to close the gap to the teams above. We tried our best. We played late midweek and that can be tough at times… with the three games in a week.

It’s a bit of a missed opportunity. We wanted to push on in the league, but we can still do that. Hopefully we can win our game in hand and push on.” 

MATCH STATISTICS

BOB’S POINT OF VIEW

Bob White was a coach at Palace under the tenure of Steve Coppell and Alan Smith and will be sharing his point of view each week in our review article.

“Much ado about nothing was probably an apt description of this game played out at Selhurst Park.

A match where any points to be gained were arguably more important for a West Ham team on the edge of a relegation spot never really ignited into life. The visitors shaded the first half without really dominating, whilst Palace were the team more likely to score in the second period especially with the introduction of Kamada, Mateta and Sarr.

It was also a statement of intent in confirming what our strongest starting line-up will be for the two legs of the European Conference League semi-final.

As a positive, defensively we are looking very solid where the central combination of Richards, Lacroix and Canvot have created good understanding between them as a unit. Positionally they are aware of each other knowing when to attack the ball or drop off to restrict space to the opposition attackers.

Unfortunately, offensively we lacked creativity and vision from midfield areas to unlock the West Ham defence with quick progressive passes. Too many passes went astray in the final third to consistently ask questions of their backline.

My man of the match goes to Canvot who is developing at the age of 19 into a top-class defender. Without applying too much pressure, let’s hope his current rate of development continues and ensures we do not miss the undoubted talents and influence of Guehi.

So, in the end, we had to be content with a ‘respect the point’ taking us to the edge of the battle for European places this season.”

TEB VERDICT

This was Palace’s sixth goalless draw in the Premier League this season, the most by a side since Newcastle United in 2022-23 (7) which perhaps says everything about the game.

The lively opening suggested that this would be an exciting encounter, but chances were limited throughout with the art of defence ending up shining through, and a three game week for the Eagles starting to show.

Unfortunately, the front three for Palace were extremely lack lustre and failed to take their chance having been granted starts by Oliver Glasner, apart from perhaps Yeremy Pino who tried to create an opening. The real urgently came when the cavalry were called upon, but even then, they could only find the back of net once which ended up being disallowed for an infringement.

By the time the final whistle blew it felt like an opportunity missed in closing the gap on those teams chasing a European spot this season. One real plus point however is the rising stock for Jaydee Canvot who is proving to be a very astute addition and at such a young age.

With the season winding down, there remains an awful lot left to play for in all six league games, which includes both title contenders, as well as the two legged European semi final. The season could well end on game number 60, in Leipzig.

LEAGUE POSITION

UPCOMING FIXTURES