West Ham’s 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace restored their two-point lead over Tottenham and the bottom three, sealing Wolves’ relegation from the Premier League.
Spurs endured a tough weekend, but this result opens the door for Roberto De Zerbi’s side to battle for survival ahead of Saturday’s away trip to Wolves. Wolves became the first team in eight years to be relegated from the top flight this season.
West Ham were granted another week outside the drop zone, but with wins over Nottingham Forest and Leeds and Spurs taking a big step forward in performance, they may look back on this as a missed opportunity.
Opta rates West Ham as having the toughest final game of all the bottom of the table teams, with games remaining against Everton, Brentford, Arsenal, Newcastle and Leeds.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side failed to create any big chances in the second half and almost conceded a goal late on, but Ismaila Sarr’s shot was canceled out by fellow Palace substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta with an unnecessary handball.
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Ismaila Sarr was ruled out of Crystal Palace’s opening match after being handballed by Jean-Philippe Mateta.
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West Ham’s Konstantinos Mavropanos had his header denied by a great save from Dean Henderson.
Late in the first half, West Ham’s Tati Castellanos had an acrobatic shot that almost went empty when Dean Henderson’s punch missed him, but it was cleared by Crystal Palace defender Maxence Lacroix, who overcame an injury scare to start.
Henderson made a fine save immediately after his mistake to deny Konstantinos Mavropanos’ attack. The West Ham defender, who scored twice in the win over Wolves, probably could have done better, but his header went too close to the keeper.
Former Tottenham winger Brennan Johnson, who is yet to score since arriving for £35 million in January, had a great chance to give Palace the lead early on in the game, heading wide from a completely unmarked box.
After reaching the Conference League semi-finals and celebrating in Florence on Thursday, there was talk that Palace could fall down the table, but Oliver Glasner’s side finished strong and extended their unbeaten run to four games to move into 13th place.
Did West Ham gain a point or lose two points?
West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen told Sky Sports:
“It’s probably a little bit of both.
“Palace are really strong at home and are in good form having reached the European semi-finals. We knew it was going to be a really difficult game and we knew we would have to defend well.
“We had some chances that could have come our way on another day. We came here to win the game.
“But I don’t think the point here is the worst thing in the world.”
Former West Ham striker Dean Ashton told Sky Sports:
“The way Crystal Palace played, and even more so the way they played themselves in the first half, it feels like a small missed opportunity for West Ham.
“They had enough chances to score inside the penalty area.
“But the away game against Crystal Palace is not an easy game, so it has to be a good result at the moment.”
Nuno: The relegation battle will continue until the end
West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo told Sky Sports:
“We performed well. We were organized and compact. It was a tough game. Our attacking process, the combination of the last ball, the last touch didn’t work.
“The game was very balanced. They are a difficult team to play against. That gave them a lot of success. It’s difficult because they are good players. You can’t find gaps. They are a counter-attacking threat.”
“We were solid and it was going to be a fight until the end.
“We will definitely go all the way to the end, not just at the bottom of the table but also at the top. This season has been very tough.”
Glasner: Mixed feelings after draw
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner told Sky Sports:
“As always after a draw, I have mixed feelings. Let’s talk about the positives. Another clean sheet. What I wanted to see was that at the end of the game we were close to winning.”
“West Ham defended very well in the box. We matched their motivation today. All is well.”
“Our biggest threat today was the set-pieces. We gave them too much, especially in the first half. They have a lot of tall players and Bowen carries the ball well.
“The performance was OK. The dedication was great.”
Opta statistics
Crystal Palace remain unbeaten in their last four Premier League games (wins, losses, two losses), but their unbeaten record has only extended to their opening six games (wins, losses, three losses) this season. West Ham United have kept a clean sheet in a Premier League game for the first time since February 2025, when they lost to Arsenal and Leicester City. Crystal Palace recorded their 12th clean sheet of the season, the only time they had kept more than that in the 1994-95 Premier League campaign. (15). In fact, since Oliver Glasner’s first match in February 2024, only Arsenal (36) and Manchester City (32) have recorded more shutouts than Palace’s 28. This is Crystal Palace’s sixth goalless draw in the Premier League this season, the most since 2022-23 against Newcastle United (seven games).
