West Ham 1-1 Crystal Palace: Mark Noble Earns Hammers a Point as Joao Mario Debuts in Draw
West Ham and Crystal Palace had to settle for a point apiece as Mark Noble's penalty cancelled out Christian Benteke's header at the London Stadium on Tuesday evening.
Benteke's 24th-minute effort gave the Eagles the lead but they were pegged back when Noble cooly dispatched a spot-kick just before the interval.
Some terrific defending from James Tomkins stopped Javier Hernandez opening the scoring early on, the former West Ham man diving at the Mexican's feet to stop the striker getting a shot away from six yards out.
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The visitors took the lead when Andros Townsend beat Declan Rice on the outside and clipped in for Benteke, who powered in a header for his second Premier League goal of the season.
West Ham struggled during the first half, with a lack of creativity and the absence of several key attacking players hindering their opportunities going forward.
Despite their lengthy injury list West Ham managed to pull level five minutes before half-time through Mark Noble's precise penalty after Hernandez fell dramatically in the box from Tomkins' challenge.
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Wayne Hennessey batted away Hernandez's header as West Ham started the second half brightly, with loan signing from Inter Joao Mario beginning to influence proceedings.
West Ham and Palace have pulled away from the relegation zone thanks to their improved form but the sides will remain wary of those below them, especially Swansea, who continued their recent resurgence and moved out of the bottom three with a 3-1 win over Arsenal.
Neither side could carve out the key opening in the closing stages, with Wilfried Zaha a disappointment on the night, the Ivory Coast winger lacking the instinctive drive and trickery that has made him a wanted man in the last few years.
The draw means West Ham moved up to 10th and Palace 12th, but both sides could drop down the Premier League table should results go against them on Wednesday.
West Ham XI: Adrian, Collins, Ogbonna, Rice, Byram, Zabaleta, Noble, Cresswell, Kouyate, Joao Mario, Hernandez.
Crystal Palace XI: Hennessey, Fosu-Mensah, Kelly, Tomkins, Van Aanholt, Zaha, McArthur, Milovojevic, Townsend, Benteke, Sako.
