Edouard cancels out Kudus goal as West Ham and Palace share spoils
Mohammed Kudus and Vladimír Coufal both missed the Hammers’ midweek trip to TSC Bačka Topola due to illness but showed absolutely no signs of being off the pace as they linked up for the opener.
Just 14 minutes in, Coufal provided the ball for the Ghanaian to finish with a strike that took a deflection off Marc Guéhi on its way past Sam Johnstone.
Jarrod Bowen was making his own return and was released by a perfectly-weighted pass from Nayef Aguerd, although he couldn’t lift his effort over the goalkeeper.
Despite Palace playing some nice football of their own in the first half - with Michael Olise looking particularly bright at times - the Hammers rarely looked threatened as the visitors didn’t record a single shot on target before the break.
The hosts’ biggest scare came from a Joachim Andersen free-kick that hit Edson Álvarez and spun agonisingly wide having left Alphonse Areola rooted.
Palace had a moment of concern when Kudus beat Johnstone again a mere two minutes into the second period, although the goal was ruled out due to Tomáš Souček being offside.
The hosts’ frustration was compounded when Odsonne Édouard equalised soon after, capitalising on an lax pass from Konstantinos Mavropanos by sending his shot in off the post to equal his best goalscoring campaign in the PL with six goals.
Another sloppy pass put the Hammers in trouble on the hour mark, although Edson Álvarez raced back to atone for his initial error.
With the game more open than it had been in the first half, Lucas Paquetá’s delightful pass found Emerson Palmieri for a chance that wasn’t taken as the left-back fired harmlessly off-target.
The Hammers couldn’t edge ahead despite their late pressure as Mavropanos headed wide before Bowen’s effort was caught by Johnstone, with West Ham going a fifth consecutive game unbeaten across all competitions but seeing their four-game winning streak come to an end.
Palace, meanwhile, avoided defeat for just the second time in their last six matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mohammed Kudus (West Ham United)
