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Odsonne Edouard equaliser ends West Ham United's winning streak

sportsmole.co.uk, 3 December 2023, 15:53
West Ham United's four-game winning run across all competitions was brought to an end in a 1-1 Premier League draw with local rivals Crystal Palace at the London Stadium.

Fresh from more successful Europa League exertions, the Irons drew first blood through Mohammed Kudus, but Odsonne Edouard's sixth Premier League goal of the season - matching the Frenchman's previous best tally in the top flight - earned Roy Hodgson's beleaguered side a point.

While Jarrod Bowen was given the thumbs-up to lead the Hammers' line after recovering from injury, Kurt Zouma was unavailable due to a personal matter, allowing Dinos Mavropanos to come into the backline.

Meanwhile, Will Hughes and the rarely-seen Chris Richards benefitted from Eberechi Eze and Cheick Doucoure's injuries to start for Palace, who were briefly in the ascendancy at the London Stadium before being hit with a Kudus-sized sucker punch.

It was no surprise to see James Ward-Prowse heavily involved in the build-up, as the Englishman sprayed a delightful ball out to Vladimir Coufal on the right, and the Czech defender cut back for the arriving Kudus to finish low into the bottom corner.

The Ghanaian's first-time strike took a slight deflection off Marc Guehi to befuddle Sam Johnstone, who otherwise had little to do in the first half, but his teammates were also failing to make Alphonse Areola work down the other end of the field.

Kudus's compatriot Jordan Ayew had a half-chance from range in the 28th minute, but the attacker blasted a few yards wide of the West Ham goal, before Joachim Andersen's deflected free kick landed just the wrong side of the post in the 36th minute.

Palace did not manage a single shot on target in the opening 45, but it took just eight minutes of the second half for Roy Hodgson's men to draw themselves level, thanks to a defensive howler from Mavropanos.

The ex-Arsenal man was guilty of cheaply giving the ball away to Edouard as West Ham tried to build from the back, and the Palace striker advanced into the box before finishing across Nayef Aguerd into the far corner.

David Moyes's troops huffed and puffed for an instant response, but Emerson Palmieri was guilty of squandering a brilliant chance at the back post in the 64th minute, firing straight over the top after being found by Aguerd's long ball.

Palace largely remained camped in their own half in the time that remained, but clear-cut opportunities were increasingly hard to come by for the Irons, whose final chance saw Bowen send a header into Johnstone's grateful palms in the fourth minute of injury time.

West Ham's next fixture sees the Hammers travel to meet London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday, while Palace have just two full days to recover before hosting Bournemouth on Wednesday.

More to follow.

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