A woeful West Ham performance, which saw Konstantinos Mavropanos sent off and Lukasz Fabianski give away a penalty, highlighted the problems facing Graham Potter as Jean-Philippe Mateta fired Crystal Palace above them in the Premier League with a 2-0 win at the London Stadium.
West Ham were fortuitous to beat Fulham in their midweek outing but this was a damning display, with their overly cautious approach in the opening 45 minutes ultimately punished. They failed to manage a shot on target and their best chance – a horribly sliced shot from Lucas Paqueta – summed up their attacking play.
At the back, they could not handle Mateta. Max Kilman stood off him to allow the Palace man to fire into the bottom corner at the start of the second half and hit the net for a third Premier League game in a row.
Mavropanos was booked for two fouls on him either side of that opener and then Lukasz Fabianski brought down Eddie Nketiah after Mateta had released his strike partner in the box. The Frenchman squeezed in the spot-kick in the 89th minute to seal a win that moves Palace up to 12th.
It is now a club-record seven games unbeaten away from home in the top flight for Palace, who have won four of their last five on the road. They have won back-to-back games in the Premier League for the first time this term, too. West Ham’s direction of travel is far less positive.
They are 10 points clear of third-bottom Ipswich but the boos that rang out at full-time here underlined the mood. Jarrod Bowen, Niclas Fullkrug, Crysencio Summerville and Michail Antonio are out with injuries so there are mitigating factors. But with trips to Aston Villa and Chelsea next on their schedule, West Ham’s situation could get worse before it gets better.
Potter: We lacked intensity
West Ham boss Graham Potter:
“I think Palace played well. Credit to them. We were probably a bit passive. We looked a bit leggy, unable to play with any real intensity to put the pressure on I’d like us to. We were unable to sustain long enough attacks.
“While the game was 0-0 Palace were the better team and we were hanging on. We started the second half not well, conceding. The subs gave us more energy, we were on the front foot but the sending off affected us. Even then we still went for the equaliser and that led to the penalty at the end.
“Palace are in a different moment to us. They’ve been working together for a long time. I wouldn’t say it was an excuse but it looked like it was [one game too far in a tough week].
“Is defence or attack the priority? It’s that end and the attacking end, we need to improve both things. If you’re conceding goals it makes it difficult to attack well and if you’re not pushing teams back you end up defending a lot.”
Analysis: Blunt West Ham deliver alarming attacking display
Sky Sports‘ Peter Smith:
West Ham fans could smile at the stat that they’d scored from all three of their shots on target against Fulham on Tuesday. But few saw the funny side of their team’s attacking play against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
No shots on target and next to no threat at all in the final third. Mohammed Kudus led the line this time instead of Lucas Paqueta but whatever Graham Potter had planned, this was an alarming display.
There were groans around the ground as Lukasz Fabianski and his centre-backs repeatedly exchanged passes in the first half, with seemingly no intention of going forwards. Palace can be hard to break down but at times West Ham looked uninclined to even try. Better to keep possession than attack and risk losing it?
Of course, the absences of Jarrod Bowen, Niclas Fullkrug, Crysencio Summerville and Michail Antonio have reduced their attacking options. But West Ham fans expect far more thrust from their teams, regardless of who is available.
It is still early days in Potter’s reign and he will hope more training ground time will lead to more cohesive performances. But, on this evidence, the mentality of the group needs to shift into a more attacking mindset.
Glasner: An excellent performance
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner:
“I think it’s the same result, twice winning 2-0 [also against Leicester], but I think it’s a massive difference in the performance. Today was an excellent performance, I think we controlled the game over the whole time and we didn’t give West Ham a clear chance to score.
“We scored our goals in the right moments straight after half-time and then when they tried again to get the equaliser, we decided the game with the penalty. So I’m very pleased with the result and the performance today, whereas at Leicester I was just pleased with the result.”
Mateta continues red-hot form in front of goal
Sky Sports’ Will Bitibiri:
Corner flags beware, Jean-Phillipe Mateta is in red-hot form.
His brace against a dismal West Ham means that Crystal Palace’s marksman now has four goals in his last three games. It’s a run that started since the turn of the year with those four matching his return for the season prior to 2025. After a slow start to the campaign, he looks back to his domineering best, linking up with Eberechi Eze to burst West Ham’s new manager bubble as they linked up for another goal.
By setting up Mateta again, Eze has now provided eight Premier League assists for Mateta, with no Palace player assisting a teammate more often in the competition’s history. The tally matches the previous record with Michael Olise also assisting Eze eight times.
“He always needs the players around him who can give him the ball,” said Glasner afterwards. “But then when he gets it in the right areas, and this is what we’re working on day by day with the whole team, then we know that he has an amazing finish.”
