WEST HAM UNITED 1 CRYSTAL PALACE 3
WEST HAM UNITED - Valencia 76'
CRYSTAL PALACE - Murray 41', 63'; Dann 51'
MAN OF THE MATCH - Scott Dann (Crystal Palace)
LONDON // A month ago, perhaps this would have felt like a key game at both ends of the table and, while Sam Allardyce must feel some frustration at West Ham's slide, it is greatly to Alan Pardew's credit that by kick off it had come to look a fairly meaningless mid-table fixture.
Certainly by the end, after he had notched his fourth Premier League win in two months as Crystal Palace manager, it felt as though his side had all but extricated themselves from the relegation battle.
Steve Parrish, Palace’s chairman, had noted before kick off that the picture could look far less rosy if his side lost to West Ham and then away to Southampton next week, but admitted he would feel “confident” of survival if they could take something from both matches.
His target was 38 points, but he acknowledged 36 might be enough. As it is, Palace are on 30 points with 11 games of the season remaining.
The way they are playing, though, picking up the eight points Parrish believes they need should not be a problem.
For West Ham, though, there are problems aplenty.
They have won only one of their past 10 games and, while several of those have been decent performances in which they have failed to take full advantage or have conceded late goals, there is now a sense of drift about their season.
This was a strangely lethargic display, enlivened only after the 61st minute when Brazilian substitute Nene came on and hit the bar with a moment of brilliance.
After Palace had been reduced to 10 men when Glenn Murray picked up a second yellow card, West Ham did, finally, start to impose themselves, and Enner Valencia pulled one back with 14 minutes remaining to ignite a late surge.
By then, though, Palace already led 3-0, the result of their purposeful approach but, mainly, West Ham’s uncharacteristic sloppiness defending set pieces.
All three Palace goals came from Jason Puncheon set plays. The first was sliced into his own net by Aaron Cresswell after an unmarked Murray had met a corner, the second, from Scott Dann was a simple free header from a corner, and for the third, Murray stole in front of his marker to nudge in a free kick.
Allardyce, on the bench, was furious, his players perhaps subconsciously switching off in the knowledge that the season has little left to offer them.
Eighth, on 39 points, they are already safe from relegation and probably now will not even make the Europa League (which they probably are not that bothered about being in anyway).
It was not anything like as hostile as at this stage last season, but there were grumbles of discontent around Upton Park.
Those who see Allardyce’s style of football as a betrayal of the club’s traditions clearly have not entirely been won over.
The fact is that, unless there is a cataclysmic collapse, this will have been a far better season than West Ham fans could realistically have expected, while Palace, too, are on course to hit their targets.
Sometime mid-table comfort can be quite enjoyable.
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