An afternoon to forget for Pablo Fornals at half-time in Crystal Palace vs West Ham United
It had been a dreadful and difficult half for West Ham United against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park going in at half-time 3-2 down after taking the lead.
The Hammers have the chance to all but confirm their Premier League status for next season if they could triumph in South London with a win taking them eight points clear of Leicester City in 18th place.
Palace started the better of the two teams, dominating much of the possession and territory and looking to get their more creative outlets in Wilfried Zaha, Michael Olise and Ebere Eze involved but West Ham stood firm.
However, West Ham United took the lead inside nine minutes when Soucek smashed the ball home from a corner after some slack Palace defending, ending a torrid individual 36-game goal drought.
But Palace equalised just five minutes later when Olise provided a delicious pass for Jordan Ayew who fired the ball past Lukasz Fabiasnki in the West Ham goal before Zaha put the home side in front after Moyes’ men failed to clear a Olise’s loose pass.
In more dreadful play from the Hammers, Jeffrey Schlupp took advantage of Soucek’s lack of concentration when nipped the ball from him in his own half before rolling the ball past Fabianski to make the half incredibly comfortable for the Eagles.
Moyes’ men grabbed one back to make it 3-2 when Michail Antonio latched onto a Soucek header from a corner to give the Irons some hope again in an engrossing and entertaining first half.
It’s been a dreadful afternoon so far for West Ham United but an even tougher one for Pablo Fornals, who returned to the starting lineup for this game in place of Said Benrahma. And Moyes may well be regretting starting the Spaniard, considering his uneventful and lacklustre half.
After this torrid showing, it’s easy to see why Fornals struggles to get into the West Ham United team every week.
As per Sofascore, the 27-year-old offered absolutely nothing to the final third as he is required to do, registering no key passes, no crosses, and no dribbles, whilst winning just one of his total duels and losing the ball five times, picking up a poor 6.2/10 rating.
Even when the Hammers entered the final third, the Spaniard was nowhere to be seen offering no help to the likes of Antonio and Jarrod Bowen.
If West Ham United are to get back into this contest, Moyes will have to make a second-half change quickly by bringing on Benrahma or Maxwel Cornet. Fornals has been woeful.