West Ham limp to home draw after midweek win
West Ham limped to a draw against Crystal Palace after failing to find their groove on Sunday afternoon.
Seats emptied towards the end of the game in significant quantities as West Ham struggled to inspire in the draw at the London Stadium.
The two oldest managers came head-to-head in this game and spent most of the second half motionless at the edge of their technical areas as both sets of managers struggled to get their respective sides going. This is despite a wealth of talent and technical quality at their disposal.
West Ham took the lead in the 13th-minute after James Ward-Prowse produced a sweeping cross‑field pass to Vladimir Coufal, whose first-time cross found Mohammed Kudus.
His shot deflected off Marc Guéhi on its way past Johnstone, giving the Hammers a promising start. But David Moyes, despite having three attacking midfielders and two centre-forwards on the bench, and despite the fact West Ham had returned from Serbia on Friday and looked weary, did not make a single change until the 88th minute when Pablo Fornals was belatedly introduced.
The game could have been different from West Ham’s perspective had Konstantinos Mavropanos not gifted Palace their equaliser, but the response will have irked many in the ground.
Who stood out for West Ham?
The defence looked shaky at times but Vladimir Coufal showed the form most know he’s capable of as it feels like he’s reborn as an attacking force. His cross was converted by Kudus, giving Coufal his fifth league assist of the season.
Kudus himself was a bright spark as he started and finished the move he scored from and is seemingly improving with each passing week.
Moyes left his subs far too late to make an impact which was a surprise considering Jarrod Bowen’s obvious lack of sharpness within the game.
Improvement is needed in performances otherwise European football will look unlikely as the season progresses.
