West Ham Secure Draw at Crystal Palace, Widening Lead Over Tottenham in Relegation Scrap

After progressing to the Conference League semi finals, Crystal Palace might have been accused of losing focus on domestic matters. Yet, with 13 points gained from their previous seven league outings (four wins, one draw, two losses), Oliver Glasners team appeared ready for the challenge during a balanced initial 15 minutes.

Brennan Johnson has found it tough to influence games since his arrival at the Eagles, and his difficulties persisted early on when he sent a free header astray, followed soon by a shot that curled past Mads Hermansens upright.

The visitors hit back with some encouraging pressure of their own, nearly punishing a poorly judged clearance from Dean Henderson via a spectacular overhead effort from Taty Castellanos that Maxence Lacroix managed to deflect away.

The most promising opportunity of the opening 45 minutes came right before the interval, though Konstantinos Mavropanos failed to build on his recent scoring streak as Henderson parried his dominant aerial effort.

Quality openings remained scarce amid a physical opening to the second half, leading Glasner to make three substitutions as the game neared the 60 minute mark.

The increasingly fragmented encounter required some inspiration, but with the clock showing just 15 minutes left, the scoreline stayed blank and the outcome hung in the balance.

The Selhurst Park crowd erupted momentarily, believing they had snatched victory through substitute Ismaila Sarrs instinctive volley from near range, only for the effort to be disallowed due to a handball involving Jean Philippe Mateta.

This turned out to be the final significant moment, as the away side accepted what might prove a valuable share of the spoils in their effort to stay in the top flight.

Nuno Espirito Santo has yet to triumph in any of his previous six encounters with Palace (four draws, two defeats), but the Portuguese manager will hardly be troubled, given that his charges have now re established a two point buffer ahead of Tottenham in 18th with five fixtures remaining.

For their part, the hosts squandered an opportunity to claim three successive head to head victories against the Hammers for the first time ever. Still, this result will not overly bother Palace supporters, comfortably placed in the middle of the standings, with potential spots in the Conference League or even Europa League still within reach.

Relegation is no longer a concern for them, unlike bottom placed Wolves, whose drop has now been mathematically sealed.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Axel Disasi (West Ham)

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