Slowly but surely, West Ham are edging their way to safety. While this battling draw against a Crystal Palace side with their minds elsewhere proved terminal to his former club Wolves as it confirmed their relegation, Nuno Espírito Santo had to be satisfied with a point that may be crucial in the long run after Brennan Johnson missed the chance to help out his old employers Tottenham.
Palace, who have now been involved in eight goalless draws this season, were indebted to Dean Henderson for producing the save of the night to deny Konstantinos Mavropanos just before half-time, even if the visitors struggled to create much else. West Ham will be disappointed not to have stretched their advantage over Tottenham to four points after a strangely subdued performance, although at least their fate remains in their hands. Former manager David Moyes and his in-form Everton side are next up on Saturday.
“We know that it’s going to be a fight to the end, the table is very tight. We realise that every day is important,” said Nuno.
“We’ve been proving that we don’t give up, we are committed. You can see today, even though it’s not a perfect game for us, it was a game that we fought, we were organised, committed and showed spirit. I can see that we will keep fighting to the end.”
After Brighton’s Georginio Rutter was the toast of the east end on Saturday night with his late equaliser against Spurs, Nuno had challenged his players to take their opportunity against a Palace side still recovering from their exploits in the Conference League – a competition that West Ham know well. Viral footage of Adam Wharton and co out in Florence in the early hours of Friday morning as they celebrated with supporters would have only given them more encouragement.
The England midfielder had to come off in Italy with a recurrence of the adductor injury he sustained on international duty last month and was not part of the matchday squad as Oliver Glasner made four changes, although Wharton is expected to recover in time for the meeting with Liverpool at the weekend. Yet West Ham – who were unsurprisingly unchanged from their morale-boosting 4-0 win against Wolves – could not deliver a similar result this time as they struggled to find inspiration despite having 10 days to prepare.
Back in mid-January, West Ham trailed Tottenham by 13 points but they have steadily whittled that down, picking up 19 from their last 12 matches. Their north London rivals have managed only four draws and no wins to sink into the relegation zone. West Ham’s defence has been vastly improved since Axel Disasi’s arrival on loan from Chelsea in January, but they were unsettled by two players that cost Palace £85m in the same month. Jørgen Strand Larsen was off target with an early volley before Johnson spurned two gilt-edged chances. The Wales forward has endured a difficult start to life in south London after his move from Spurs for £35m and has still not managed to score. He showed his lack of confidence when heading wide from Tyrick Mitchell’s cross, even if his next attempt with his right foot was much closer.
West Ham had to bide their time until Taty Castellanos produced a spectacular overhead kick when Henderson’s poor punch fell to him. But Maxence Lacroix was able to hack it clear. Henderson – who has now kept 12 clean sheets in the Premier League, the same as Gianluigi Donnarumma – made up for his error when he pulled off a flying save to keep out a header from Mavropanos that was arrowing into the top corner.
“Our defence is always our foundation,” said Glasner, who also praised Jaydee Canvot for the way the teenager has stepped into Marc Guéhi’s shoes since his departure to Manchester City. “It’s a product of his quality and his character.”
The incensed Palace manager let his frustration be known as his side struggled to get going after the break and Johnson wasted another opening. It didn’t take long for the cavalry to arrive as Mateta, Ismaïla Sarr and Daichi Kamada were all introduced off the bench.
Mads Hermansen looked extremely relieved when he almost dropped the ball to the waiting Sarr from a Daniel Muñoz cross but just managed to recover his error.
Nuno threw on Callum Wilson in the hope of grabbing a winner but neither side showed enough to earn all three points. Sarr had the ball in the net with eight minutes to play in a moment that must have got the Tottenham supporters off their sofas. Yet their hopes were dashed when referee Darren England immediately disallowed it because the ball had struck Mateta on the arm. As Spurs are finding out the hard way, those are the breaks when things aren’t going your way.
