Crystal Palace snatched victory at West Ham as Jordan Ayew had an 87th-minute goal awarded by the video assistant referee at the London Stadium.
The strike was initially ruled offside by the linesman after Ayew stabbed in from Martin Kelly’s header but the decision was overturned after a lengthy VAR review.
Sebastien Haller had given West Ham the lead when he swept home.
But Palace equalised through Patrick van Aanholt’s penalty before Ayew’s goal secured all three points.
The win moved Roy Hodgson’s side into the top four of the Premier League while ending West Ham’s six-game unbeaten run.
VAR takes centre stage again at the London Stadium
The addition of VAR in the Premier League has been a much debated subject this season and the London Stadium has now played host to some of its most controversial moments.
In West Ham’s opening game of the campaign against Manchester City, VAR ruled out a goal for the visitors after Raheem Sterling’s shoulder was adjudged offside, and this was a similarly close call.
When Ayew turned home from Kelly’s knockdown, the linesman’s flag was immediately raised and all but the most eagle-eyed would have disputed the decision.
However, VAR intervened, leading to a lengthy delay and after examining many angles it was deemed that Ayew had just been played onside.
It was tight but ultimately the correct decision and Palace now have two additional points that could prove vital at the end of the season.
Missed chances prove costly for West Ham
This was West Ham’s first defeat in the Premier League since they were thumped 5-0 by Manchester City in their season opener but they arguably only had themselves to blame for not extending their unbeaten run to seven games.
Much of their good form has been down to an attack that will be the envy of many of their opponents in the Premier League, with Haller, Andriy Yarmolenko, Felipe Anderson and Manuel Lanzini offering a combination of pace, power, and creativity.
However, they were all uncharacteristically off-key in the final third in this game.
Haller – West Ham’s record signing in the summer – fluffed a golden chance in the first half when he shot straight at Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita from only a couple of yards out while Anderson mis-hit a volley before seeing a header saved.
Even after Palace had got back on level terms they again had a golden chance to win it late on but Haller took too long to shoot from a good position and was closed down by Van Aanholt.
In the end, five of West Ham’s nine shots on goal failed to hit the target. However, they had scored two more goals in four of the five games prior to Palace’s visit meaning this was likely just to be a bad day at the office for the Hammers’ usually sharp shooters.
Man of the match – Patrick van Aanholt
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Source: BBC
