West Ham United survived a late fightback by Crystal Palace to start the new year with a narrow Premier League victory at Selhurst Park.
The three points for David Moyes’ side moves them back up to fifth in the table above Tottenham Hotspur, who had claimed an added-time winner at Watford earlier on Saturday.
The Hammers were aided by wasteful finishing from the home side and were clinical in front of goal themselves as they netted three times in the first half.
Palace winger Jeffrey Schlupp swivelled and struck the post from a promising position after just 46 seconds and Odsonne Edouard rattled the crossbar with a first-time effort.
But in between West Ham capitalised on Palace’s profligacy as Michail Antonio scored the opener on 22 minutes, sliding in to convert Said Benrahma’s delightful cross and they doubled their lead just three minutes later courtesy of Manuel Lanzini’s neat footwork and thumping finish.
On the stroke of half time, referee Darren England awarded a penaltyagainst Palace skipper Luka Milivojevic for handball after reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor, and Lanzini stepped up to confidently despatch it.
The hosts pushed forward in the second period and pulled one back seven minutes from time when Edouard poked home from Michael Olise’s cross and the substitute then also curled a late free-kick for Palace’s second – but an equaliser proved elusive.
-BBC
