Eagles defeat Hammers in seven-goal thriller

Eberechi Eze's penalty proved to be the winner as Crystal Palace emerged victorious in a thrilling seven-goal clash with West Ham United.

The visitors took the lead in the ninth minute from a corner that Michael Olise got a head to but unfortunately for the Palace player, the ball fell kindly to Tomás Soucek to fire into the net from close range.

That lead lasted just six minutes when this time Michael Olise was providing an assist at the right end of the pitch. Olise’s through-ball was met by Jordan Ayew who got ahead of Kurt Zouma and fired a low effort past Lukasz Fabianski.

With 20 minutes gone in the game, Palace had already come from behind to lead. Again Olise was involved with a low cross that Ayew missed but Wilfried Zaha was free at the far post to finish.

After having scored the opener, Soucek was culpable for the Eagles’ third goal of the game when he was caught in possession by Jeffrey Schlupp who had just the goalkeeper to beat which he did with a low shot through Fabianski's legs.

The Hammers pulled one back in the 35th minute to make it 3-2. Again it came from a West Ham corner that Palace didn’t deal with, allowing Michail Antonio to head in at the far post from point-blank range.

After a whirlwind of a first half, we had to wait until the 66th minute for the game’s next goal. This one came from the spot after Nayef Aguerd conceded what looked like a soft penalty for an apparent foul on Eberechi Eze. It was Eze himself who took the penalty and sent Fabianski the wrong way after a stuttering run-up.

West Ham reduced the deficit to 4-3 in the 73rd minute. For a third time, Palace were done by a corner, this one coming in at the near post and being headed on with Aguerd eventually getting the final touch. Although it was difficult to tell who exactly got the final touch, the goal did at least survive a VAR check for a potential handball.

That was the final goal in what was an entertaining clash between the two sides at Selhurst Park. Palace are all but safe now while West Ham missed out on the chance to move further away from trouble.

xG: Crystal Palace (2.45) 4-3 (1.83) West Ham United

GET IN THERE 🤩 #CPFC | #CRYWHU pic.twitter.com/UZZJRv9PLF

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) April 29, 2023