West Ham player ratings v Crystal Palace – 1/10 man stinks out whole of London
West Ham United put in an absolutely woeful performance in their 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace at the London Stadium on Saturday.
The first half passed by with very little of note from a Hammers perspective, other than Lukasz Fabianski making saves from Jean-Philippe Mateta and Maxence Lacroix before Lucas Paqueta’s late chance.
Palace made the hosts pay straight after the restart though; Mateta running through to slam home the opening goal after Max Kilman backed off him for far too long in the 48th minute.
The Irons offered nothing at the other end, going down to 10 men after Konstantinos Mavropanos’ second yellow card, yet Fabianski kept them in it with late saves from Eddie Nketiah and Justin Devenny.
That was, however, until Nketiah ran through and drew a clear foul from Fabianski in the box, and despite Mateta hitting a poor penalty, it was still able to squirm underneath the keeper to seal a deserved victory.
West Ham Zone rated the performance of every Hammers player out of 10 in East London.
Lukasz Fabianski – 5
Made a strong diving save to deny Mateta’s snap-shot early on, before also denying MAxence Lacroix and Ismaila Sarr. Picked up an injury to his forearm late in the first half, but was able to continue and saved again from Lacroix in the second. Kept out Nketiah and Devenny late on too, but after conceding a blatant penalty for his foul on Nketiah, Fabianski couldn’t prevent the Irons going 2-0 down.
Konstantinos Mavropanos catastrophic in West Ham v Fulham
Konstantinos Mavropanos – 1
Solid in the first half, Mavropanos was immediately on shaky ground in the second, being booked for dragging Mateta down after being beaten all ends up. With 11 minutes left on the clock, Mavropanos’ tightrope snapped, picking up a second yellow and being sent off for clipping Mateta with a high boot.
Max Kilman – 2
A poor touch in defence gifted Mateta a chance from the edge of the box, forcing Fabianski into a save, and lost Lacroix for a free header which the goalkeeper also kept out. Didn’t do enough to halt Mateta as he ran clear and scored the opener for Palace, but did make a vital intervention to keep Eze at bay and deny Palace a second late on.
Aaron Cresswell (off for Ollie Scarles , 56′) – 5
Got forward from left centre-back and left unmarked at the far post from Wan-Bissaka’s ball across the face, but couldn’t get on the end of it, but still looked to take the game to Palace before being hooked early in the second half.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 6
Arrived at the far post to volley Paqueta’s cross back across the face of goal, but Cresswell couldn’t turn it home, yet Wan-Bissaka continued to work his way up and down the right flank throughout. Did well to beat two before crossing for Orford, albeit to no avail.
Guido Rodriguez (off for Carlos Soler, 45′) – 4
Produced a superb turn in midfield to get away from Eberechi Eze, but then gifted the ball straight back to Palace in one of few first-half lapses and did little else of note, before being withdrawn at the break.
Edson Alvarez (off for Luis Guilherme, 83′) – 4
Looking to build on his positive display against Fulham, Alvarez wasn’t afraid to put himself about and was on both ends of some meaty challenges. Booked midway through the first half for dissent, and almost robbed Tyrick Mitchell to create a chance early in the second before play was brought back.
Emerson (off for Lewis Orford, 56′) – 5
Left clutching at straws trying to chase down Sarr and Eze down the flanks at time in the first half, Emerson avoided any real errors at either end and was withdrawn early in the second period.
Tomas Soucek – 4
Raced into the box and leapt for a Paqueta lob before going down under pressure from Munoz and having his penalty claims immediately waved away, but was fairly anonymous otherwise
Lucas Paqueta (off for Danny Ings, 56′) – 4
Often isolated in attack with few forward runners to aim at, Paqueta had the Irons’ only real chance of the first half, sending a rushed half-volley meekly wide of goal. Guilty of cheaply giving possession away in the second half though and replaced just 11 minutes after the restart
Mohammed Kudus – 3
Was often the furthest-forward Hammers player when the hosts were in possession, but had to drop deep in order to collect the ball on several occasions. Almost got on the end of a Scarles cross late on, but Dean Henderson was easily able to collect.
Substitutes:
Carlos Soler (on for Guido Rodriguez, 45′) – 4 – Potter recognised his mistake to drop Soler very quickly indeed and introduced him at the break, but the Spaniard made very little impact.
Danny Ings (on for Lucas Paqueta, 56′) – 5 – Brought on to finally give the Irons a presence up front, and saw a shot blocked after Palace failed to deal with a rare corner from the hosts.
Ollie Scarles (on for Aaron Cresswell, 56′) – 6 – Produced the loudest cheer of the match so far not long after coming on, chasing down Daniel Munoz and dispossessing the defender by his own corner flag.
Lewis Orford (on for Emerson, 56′) – 6 – Came on for his senior Hammers debut to give the crowd a rare lift early in the second half, and had one of few second-half attempts from a Wan-Bissaka cross which he couldn’t quite turn goalwards.
Luis Guilherme (on for Edson Alvarez, 83′) – N/A
In other West Ham news, one of the Irons’ Premier League rivals have laid down the terms for a possible transfer to East London.
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