Eagles Stop Hammers Rise

West Ham United held an open training session in Stratford on Friday ahead of Monday night’s game against Crystal Palace. It was unfortunate though that this didn’t help them follow up the crucial win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, as they had to settle for a point, as the game at Selhurst Park ended goalless.

Nuno Espírito Santo didn’t feel the need to make any changes to his matchday squad for this encounter as they looked for their first win on the road since the 1-0 victory at Fulham back on 4 March.

The Hammers started the game outside of the relegation zone, due to the success over Rob Edwards’ side ten days ago and throughout the first-half, they were on the front-foot but couldn’t make the most of the opportunities that fell their way.

Oliver Glasner’s side took time to find their rhythm, but when they did, the travelling support were glad to see that they were wasting chances too. This was evident when Jørgen Strand Larsen was on the end of a cross from Tyrick Mitchell but fortunately, he failed to even test visiting goalkeeper Mads Hermansen.

Valentín Castellanos scored twice in their last game and he had another inviting opportunity here when a great team move involving Crysencio Summerville and Pablo Felipe set him up but unfortunately, he was unable to put the ball past home goalkeeper Dean Henderson.

West Ham could have done with the Argentine scoring but were thankful to Brennan Johnson for missing an even better chance up the other end, as the former Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur man couldn’t head home past Hermansen.

The Irons then picked up the pace again and earned two free-kicks but unfortunately, they weren’t able to make either of them count as both were easy for Henderson to claim.

Seconds later, hesitancy from Chris Richards in the Eagles’ defence led to Castellanos being sent through on goal but the sad fact for those in the away end was that the ball just got away from the striker as he shaped to shoot.

Just moments after Johnson had sent another effort wide of Hermansen’s goal, Richards rectified his earlier mistake and was alert to the danger when Summerville tried his luck from close range, but the American thwarted the winger and blocked his attempt.

Espírito Santo’s men piled on the pressure and Maxence Lacroix intervened after captain Jarrod Bowen headed El Hadji Malick Diouf’s set-piece on. Although Henderson managed to punch, it unfortunately only fell to the feet of Castellanos, but his acrobatic effort was unfortunately blocked by the defender.

The East Londoners finished the half as they had begun it and would have gone in front, had it not been for quite brilliant save from Henderson. The England international managed to get something on the ball which prevented Konstantinos Mavropanos from scoring his third goal in two games, meaning Espírito Santo’s men went down the tunnel still on level terms.

Bowen looked as though he would follow in the footsteps of his teammate and open the scoring when referee Darren England restarted the action but, Will Hughes denied him a clear route to goal, before Kyle Walker-Peters did likewise up the other end.

The hosts finally got a foothold on the game and were testing West Ham’s resolve but thankfully, the Irons stood firm.

It is fair to say that Mavropanos has shown huge improvement since Espírito Santo replaced Graham Potter back in September and the Greek defender was at his best again here, as he managed to prevent the ball getting to Strand Larsen.

The visitors had dominated for large parts of the contest so Glasner knew that he’d have to do something to change the momentum of the game. Just before the hour mark, he decided that a triple change was needed so Jean-Philippe Mateta, Ismaïla Sarr and Daichi Kamada were all thrown on to take the places of Hughes, Yeremy Pino and Strand Larsen.

The changes nearly had the desired impact, as Jefferson Lerma headed on Kamada’s free-kick but, luckily for those who had made the trip across London, it was no trouble for Hermansen.

Lerma was in the thick of the action again just minutes later as he inadvertently slipped, which allowed Castellanos to run into space. He tried to shoot but, the chance was unfortunately gone when youngster Jaydee Canvot prevented him from doing so.

With fifteen minutes of normal time left to play, West Ham’s Head-Coach made his first change, as he sent on Callum Wilson for Felipe.

Both goalkeepers were having to keep their teams in the game as the search for a winner went on. Hermansen dealt with another Lerma effort as the former AFC Bournemouth man went close, while everything that the Hammers were trying was coming from Castellanos. Unfortunately, he sent his attempt straight at Henderson.

On eighty two minutes, the hosts thought they had grabbed all three points when Sarr hit the back of the net but fortunately for the loyal West Ham support, referee England had no hesitation in ruling the effort out due to handball by Mateta in the build-up.

Shortly after, Espírito Santo shuffled his pack again as Mohamadou Kanté was introduced in place of Castellanos.

A point wasn’t exactly what the East Londoners had hoped to bring back home with them but, it is better than nothing. They will hope to build on it when they are next in action on Saturday afternoon as they look to end the month unbeaten by getting the better of former manager David Moyes and his Everton side as the Scotsman returns to Stratford for the first time since leaving in 2024.