West Ham arrived hoping to smash a first nail in Tottenham’s coffin and let the hammer slip through their fingers like sand.
It has looked for a while like Nuno Espirito Santo’s side simply have more inspiration than their raddled relegation rivals. The events of recent days have chipped away at that theory and left the rat race wide open with five games to go.
We’ll start with the positives for West Ham. They’re now two points clear of Spurs, which is a meagre gap, but it might already be enough. Tottenham have only managed two points in their last five matches.
And this, though insipid, was a gritty draw away at a team who might still qualify for Europe. A clean sheet for the road. Nobody injured. And they claimed a scalp, of sorts, by officially relegating Wolves in the process.
‘It’s going to be a fight until the end,’ Nuno said. ‘Every day is important.
‘We’ve proven that we don’t give up. It was not a perfect game for us but we were fighting, organised, [and had] spirit. The basics. We fought to the end. The players are giving it all. It’s pressure every game.’
West Ham climbed two points above Tottenham after a lethargic draw against Crystal Palace
It was a missed opportunity for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side after Spurs’ late draw with Brighton
The Irons could come to regret this night. West Ham had their chances – Taty Castellanos was denied several times by last-ditch defensive efforts or his own blundering feet, despite his good form.
These moments matter and West Ham know it. Tottenham’s atrophy surely can’t drag on much longer, or maybe it can, yet they looked better against Brighton and have a good chance to claim three points against Wolves on Saturday.
West Ham’s own fixtures don’t get much easier from here – they’ve still got Everton, Brentford, Arsenal, Newcastle, and Leeds, all tough games.
The first half hour put neutrals to sleep: it was drab, attritional, and largely bereft of quality. Neither team took the bull by the horns.
Both were going through the motions. Kyle Walker-Peters swung in crosses to mannequins. Jefferson Lerma and Konstantinos Mavropanos aimed passes at the advertising boards, perhaps confusing vintage shirt ads for team-mates. Nuno Espirito Santo prowled his technical area, arms crossed, and grimaced.
The first convincing chance of the game came after 15 minutes, when Pablo smuggled the ball through a morass of bodies to Taty, who fired over from the bar from the edge of the area.
Brennan Johnson was the best player of the first half and should have scored with a header from yards out. Within a minute of missing he was booked for a retributive slide tackle on El Hadji Malick Diouf. Frustrations were building.
West Ham almost took a fortuitous lead when Chris Richards passed it across his own goal but, to his horror, found Taty, whose touch was too heavy.
Johnson almost found the bottom corner with a curling shot from the edge of the D, only for it to whizz past the post. ‘It was a very good performance today,’ Oliver Glasner later reflected.
West Ham resorted to attempting the spectacular. Taty tried to bust the net with an overhead kick. Dean Henderson couldn’t reach it. Maxence Lacroix materialised before it crossed the line.
The pulse raised slightly as half-time approached. First, Mavropanos forced a strong save from Henderson with a bullet header, then Tyrick Mitchell drove to the other end and dragged an effort wide.
Ismaila Sarr had a late goal disallowed due to a Jean-Philippe Mateta handball in the build-up
The point was far from a bad result for the Hammers – but they will have hoped for more
Palace were an aerial threat after the break and Mavropanos did well to divert one of their crosses before Jorgen Strand Larsen could meet the ball.
In one of the only moments West Ham genuinely looked like scoring, Taty seized on a slip by Lerma to burst into the box with the ball, line up for a shot… and tumble himself.
West Ham made it too easy at times. Near the end, Lerma hit a limp shot clearly a yard or two wide, but Hermansen dived for it anyway and tipped it behind.
Selhurst Park finally got to erupt after 82 minutes of waiting, but the joy was short-lived. Ismaila Sarr smashed past Mads Hermansen but it was immediately ruled out for a handball by Jean-Philippe Mateta. It felt fitting for a clumsy night. Boos greeted the final whistle.
