The Excitement Of Crystal Palace Vs West Ham, The 3 Goals Advantage That The Hosts Almost Pursued Before The Long Whistle

JAKARTA - West Ham United pocketed the full three points after dampening the rise of Crystal Palace and winning 3-2 over their opponent in the match week 21 of the Premier League at Selhurst Park Stadium, London, Saturday local time.

West Ham were comfortably leading 3-0 at half-time thanks to Manuel Lanzini's brace after Michail Antonio's opener.

The hosts came back to score twice in the last ten minutes through Odsonne Edouard and Michael Olise. But West Ham kept the defense tight with remaining time to take home the full three points.

This victory makes West Ham again secure fifth position standings with 34 points after a few hours earlier overtook Tottenham Hotspur who collected 33 points.

Meanwhile, Palace, who lost their second in the last three games, did not move from eleventh in the standings with 23 points from 20 matches, according to the Premier League's official website as reported by Antara, Sunday 2 January.

Palace appeared aggressive from the start and almost took the lead in the first minute had Jeffrey Schlupp's shot not hit the post.

After anticipating Palace's early pressure, West Ham hit back and forced goalkeeper Vicente Guaita to make three saves with Antonio and Said Benrahma's attempted goals in the 14th minute.

A goal and an assist for Michael Olise in his 22 minutes today #CPFC pic.twitter.com/L0BF2OGqpH

— Crystal Palace FC (@CPFC) January 1, 2022

But Guaita was brought to a halt in the 22nd minute as Antonio calmly tapped home a touch from Benrahma's cross before sinking the ball into the home net and putting West Ham ahead.

Three minutes later, West Ham doubled the lead when Lanzini beat Joachim Andersen and Marc Guehi after picking up a pass from Declan Rice before finding the net for Palace.

The assist for the goal added to Rice's record-breaking record as the youngest player to reach 150 games for West Ham at 22 years 352 days.

Palace almost hit back in the 42nd minute when Christian Benteke found Joel Ward's cross but his finish was denied by goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianksi.

West Ham took the lead to 3-0 at halftime when Lanzini converted a penalty after referee Darren England and VAR agreed that Luka Milivojevic had handballed inside the area in first-half injury time.

Three goals down left Palace eager to attack as they entered the second half, but Edouard's two early chances failed to hit the mark.

Palace continued to bombard the West Ham defense and reap the rewards of their hard work when Edouard finished off Olise's cross in the 83rd minute to make it 1-3.

Olise has continued to make a big contribution since coming on for Benteke in the 63rd minute and scored Palace's second goal just after normal time with a free-kick that beat Fabianski.

Threatened by a two-point loss, the visitors closed in on the defense and Palace had the last chance in the fourth minute of injury time with Jean-Philippe Mateta's acrobatic strike that narrowly missed the mark to ensure West Ham went home with all three points.

Both teams will appear in the third round of the FA Cup. Palace visit second division Millwall on Saturday (8/1) next week and West Ham a day later host Leeds United.